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Stocks recover from morning losses

NEW YORK, March 1 (UPI) -- U.S. stock indexes gained through Friday's session, closing up following a report that said U.S. consumer spending rose but incomes dropped in January.

The U.S. Commerce Department said spending was up 0.2 percent but incomes fell 3.6 percent, the sharpest decline in 20 years.

By the close Friday, the Dow Jones industrial average added 35.17 points or 0.25 percent to 14,089.66.

The Standard and Poor's 500 picked up 9.55 points or 0.30 percent to 1,518.20.

The Nasdaq composite added 9.55 points, or 0.25 percent, to 3,169.74.

The 10-year U.S. treasury note yielded 1.851 percent.

The total volume was 3.66 trillion shares on the New York Stock Exchange.

Gainers outpaced decliners 1.91 trillion shares to 1.65 trillion shares.

Against the dollar the euro was $1.3022 from Thursday's $1.3057. Against the yen, the dollar was 93.53 yen from 92.56 yen.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 rose 0.41 percent on a gain of 47.02 points, to 11,606.38.

In London, the FTSE 100 index rose 0.28 percent, 17.79 points, to 6,378.60.

S. Korea's trade slows down

SEOUL, March 1 (UPI) -- The Ministry of Knowledge Economy in South Korea said Friday exports declined 8.6 percent in February from the same month of 2012.

Exports dropped to $43.32 billion in the month with imports also sliding by 10.7 percent on a 12-month basis to $40.26 billion.

The country's trade balance came out ahead for the 13th consecutive month, Yonhap reported. For February, the surplus came to $2.06 billion.

For February, the government said, exports and imports played against each other. With less business for exporters, there were fewer orders for raw materials -- hence a decline in imports.

The report also blamed the sluggish economy in the eurozone and general oversupply in the marketplace for the decline in international trade.

Imports of raw materials declined 7.4 percent, pushed by a 36.7 percent drop in coal imports and a 10.3 percent decline in crude oil imports.

Concurrently, exports to the European Union fell 15.4 percent compared to February 2012 and exports to the United States during the same period fell 11.4 percent, the government said.

Canada's GDP rose in fourth quarter

OTTAWA, March 1 (UPI) -- Canada's gross domestic product slipped in December, but rose fractionally in the fourth quarter, Statistics Canada reported from Ottawa Friday.

The data agency said the GDP dipped 0.2 percent from November but rose by 0.2 percent in the quarter.

For the quarter, consumer spending and business fixed-capital investment rose, inventory investment for businesses slowed, the trade balance improved, imports were down and exports gained slightly, the agency said.

Canada's economy expanded 1.8 percent in 2012 after growing 2.6 percent in 2011.

Most major industry groups experienced expansion in 2012. Exceptions were arts and entertainment and public administration.

Production of goods rose 1.9 percent and output from service-oriented firms rose 1.8 percent during 2012.

Dish awarded $4.8M in ESPN lawsuit

NEW YORK, March 1 (UPI) -- A federal court in New York ordered ESPN Inc. to pay Dish Network Corp. $4.86 million for violating terms of its distribution contract.

Dish Network accused ESPN of signing deals that were advantageous to other satellite providers, The New York Times reported Friday.

The distributor had petitioned the court for a $152 million in damages. But the jury only agreed with one of its four complaints, a claim that ESPN had allowed favorable rates to rivals for its Spanish channel ESPN Deportes.

Diane Sullivan, a lawyer representing ESPN said she was "thrilled with the result."

"To deliver the best programming at the best value to our customers, Dish will remain vigilant in our efforts to ensure that programmers honor their contractual commitments," said Stanton Dodge, Dish's general counsel.