On Friday, the US Department of Commerce said spending dropped 0.5 percent in August, compared with a 1.2 percent gain the month before, while income slipped 0.1 percent after growing 0.3 percent in July. Economists were expecting spending to decline 0.2 percent and income to grow by 0.3 percent.
In corporate news, Wal-Mart Stores Inc paid US$600 million to boost its stake in Japanese retailer Seiyu to more than 50 percent, making the company a Wal-Mart subsidiary. Wal-Mart, which previously owned 42 percent of Seiyu, has been working with Seiyu on installing computerized systems, cost cutting and supply-chain management. Wal-Mart rose US$0.28 to US$43.82.
Boeing Co gained after its machinists approved a new labor contract and ended a strike that shut down its commercial plane assembly plants for almost a month. Boeing's 18,400 machinists walked off the job on Sept. 2 after rejecting a proposed contract in which they said the company ignored several demands. Boeing added US$0.67 to US$67.95.
Advancing issues outpaced decliners by about 19 to 13 on the New York Stock Exchange, where preliminary consolidated volume of 2.09 billion shares fell behind the 2.21 billion shares traded Thursday.
The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 2.77, or 0.42 percent, to 667.80.
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