U.S. investors finished higher Friday, as investors reviewed reports showing falling U.S. import and export prices. In world markets, European stocks ended lower, with the declines led by DAX in Germany falling 0.6 percent. Asian stocks also ended lower, with the declines led by the Nikkei in Japan falling 1 percent. In U.S. economic news, export prices fell 0.3 percent in July, while import prices fell 0.4 percent, according to a report from the Labor Department. Import prices have been declining since April, and export prices have been falling since May. Meanwhile, the U.S. federal budget deficit increased by $70 billion in July and is set to exceed $1 trillion for the fourth year in a row, the Treasury Department said. The deficit for the first 10 months of the 2012 budget year, ending September 30, totaled $974 billion, which represents an 11.5 percent decrease from the same period last year. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that 2012-2013 corn yields will hit the lowest level since 1995-1996. The report raises concern that corn prices, which have risen more than 60 percent over the last seven weeks, will continue to spike. The U.S. dollar rose against the euro and rose against the yen. Light sweet crude oil for September delivery fell 49 cent to $92.87 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures rose $2.60 to $1,622.80 an ounce. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 42.76, or 0.3 percent, to 13,207.95. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 3.1, or 0.2 percent, to 1,405.87. The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index rose 2.22, or 0.1 percent, to 1,405.87.
