U.S. markets holding on to gains Friday

New York -- U.S. stock indexes held on to gains in Friday afternoon trading after a government report indicated slow spending in spite of increased wages in February.

In early afternoon trading, the Dow Jones industrial average climbed 21.24 points to 12,323.70, up 0.17 percent.

The Standard and Poor's 500 index gained 3.00 points to 1,328.76, up 0.23 percent.

The Nasdaq composite index rose 0.3 percent to 2,287.76, up 6.93 points.
The 10-year U.S. Treasury note gained 5/32 to yield 3.505 percent.

The dollar was mixed. The euro traded at $1.5753 Friday from Thursday's $1.5775, while the dollar traded at 99.57 yen from Thursday's 99.76 yen.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei average gained 215.89 points to close the week at 12,820.47, up 1.71 percent.

In London, the FSTE 100 index lost 13.10 points Friday to 5,704.40, down 0.23 percent.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International.