Stocks Are Higher Ahead Of The Long Weekend

Stocks are higher ahead of the long Labor Day weekend, as the market has rebounded after turning negative earlier on Friday.

The Dow is up 12 points, the S&P 500 is up 5 points, and the Nasdaq is up 21 points.

The latest personal income and outlays report from the BEA was released Friday morning, which showed that personal spending fell unexpectedly in July. Personal spending fell 0.1% in July, which compares to expectations for spending to rise 0.2%.

The income and outlays report also contained the latest read on personal consumption expenditures, or PCE, the Fed's preferred measure of inflation. "Core" PCE, which excludes the more volatiles costs of food and energy, rose 1.5% year-over-year in July.

The August Chicago PMI report came in at 64.3, blowing away expectations for a 56.5 reading, and up from July's disappointing 52.6. This rebound erased the sharp decline in July, but Ian Shepherdson at Pantheon Macroeconomics said of the report, "The index is not, however, a reliable short-term indicator of the overall state of manufacturing across the country as a whole."

The University of Michigan's consumer confidence survey jumped to a seven-year high of 82.5 in August, topping expectations for a reading of 80.0. "Overall, consumer confidence remains in the relatively tight range it has occupied this year and is consistent with continued moderate growth in consumer spending," said Dean Maki at Barclays.

The Russian ruble continued to slide against the dollar, with one U.S. dollar buying around 37 rubles, up from 34 in June, bringing the ruble's decline in the last few months to around 8%. The decline follows the recent escalation of the situation in Eastern Ukraine.

And as a friendly reminder, markets in the U.S. will be closed on Monday in observation of the Labor Day holiday.