NEW YORK (AP) - Stocks posted solid gains in the third quarter, though they finished out on a down note last week.
The Dow lost 49 points, but starts the fourth quarter 13,437. That's about 4 percent higher than at the beginning of July.
The S&P 500 index lost 6 to 1,441, but it rose nearly 6 percent from July through September. The Nasdaq is at 3,116, after dropping 20 points on Friday.
Investors are still nervous about Spain, even though the results of stress-tests for the nation's most troubled banks provided no surprises. A report showing that high gasoline prices were the only reason that U.S. consumer spending rose last month also weighed on market sentiment.
First Coast News