Wall Street trades mixed on economic data

Wall Street traded mixed Friday on economic data and U.S. trade sanction against China.

In the early trading hours, stocks rose on stronger-than- expected U.S. economic data.

U.S. consumer spending rose by 0.6 percent in February, the best showing since December, while personal incomes also advanced 0.6 percent, the Federal Reserve reported Friday.

Meanwhile, core consumer prices, which exclude volatile energy and food costs, were up 0.3 percent in February, the biggest increase since last August. Over the past 12 months, core consumer prices increased by 2.4 percent, higher than the Federal Reserve's comfort zone of 1 to 2 percent.

The Chicago Purchasing Managers index of regional manufacturing activity soared to a reading of 61.7 in March, higher than Wall Street was expecting and up from 47.9 in February.

The stocks traded lower after the Department of Commerce of the United States announced its preliminary decision to apply U.S. anti-subsidy law to the imports of coated free sheet paper from China.

The Chinese government expressed strong dissatisfaction about the U.S. decision to impose penalty tariffs against the imports of Chinese coated free sheet paper.

The news caused the dollar to weaken, raising concerns in the market about the U.S. currency's status as an investment vehicle.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 5.60 points, or 0.05 percent, to 12,354.35. The Standard & Poor's 500 index lost 1.69, or 0.12 percent, to 1,420.84, while the Nasdaq composite index rose 3.76, or 0.16 percent, to 2,421.64.

Source: Xinhua