The Latest: Bus station gunman had lengthy criminal record

Spoonbread Festival in Kentucky canned over Confederate flag

NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are edging higher in Friday afternoon trading. Consumer companies are rising after the government said job growth continued at a strong clip in March. Energy and mining companies are struggling as the prices of oil and precious metals drop. KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average picked up 65 points, or 0.4 percent, to 17,750 as of 1:41 p.m. Eastern time. The Standard & Poor's 500 index added seven points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,066. The Nasdaq composite index rose 29 points, or 0.6 percent, to 4,899. Stocks haven't made many sharp moves in recent weeks, but have drifted gradually higher. HIRING CONTINUES: The U.S. government reported that private employers added 215,000 jobs in March, a bit more than expected. That shows employers are confident enough to add staff even though overall economic growth has slowed down. More people also looked for work and pay ticked higher. CONSUMER POWER: Consumer companies advanced. McDonald's rose $1.45, or 1.2 percent, to $127.14 and Visa picked up $1.16, or 1.5 percent, to $77.64. Home Depot added $1.31, or 1 percent, to $134.74. THE QUOTE: Kate Warne, investment strategist for Edward Jones, said the report shows the U.S. economy is staying on track and growth remains steady in spite of all the stock market turmoil this year. "That means more spending on everything from housing to McDonald's," she said. "It's one more confirmation that the worries from earlier in the year really weren't warranted." OIL: Energy prices dropped as investors grew pessimistic about the fate of a proposed deal for major oil-producing nations to reduce production. Benchmark U.S. crude fell $1.28, or 3.3 percent, to $37.06 per barrel in New York. Brent crude, used to price international oils, dropped $1.49, or 3.7 percent, to $38.84 a barrel in London. Chevron lost $1.01, or 1.1 percent, to $94.39 and Marathon Oil retreated 65 cents, or 5.8 percent, to $10.49. DRIVE MY CAR: Tesla Motors gained $6.25, or 2.7 percent, to $236.02 after the electric car company said it received a flood of orders for Model 3, the new, lower-priced vehicle it announced on Thursday. HITTING THE BRAKES: Automakers are falling even though the U.S. auto industry on pace for its best month in 10 years. While people keep buying cars and trucks in big numbers, discounts are jumping, and there were more selling days last month than usual, which boosted sales. Ford lost 35 cents, or 2.6 percent, to $13.15 and General Motors declined 75 cents, or 2.4 percent, to $30.68. ANBANG SAYS BYE: Just days after it offered to buy Starwood Hotels for $15 billion, a consortium led by Anbang Insurance Group ended its bid. Starwood had accepted a $14 billion offer from Marriott but said Anbang's bid was better. Starwood fell $4, or 4.8 percent, to $79.43 and Marriott lost $3.91, or 5.5 percent, to $67.27. Starwood and Marriott would become the biggest hotel chain in the world, and competing hotel companies also fell. Hilton shed 49 cents, or 2.2 percent, to $22.03. REGENERATING: Regeneron Pharmaceuticals jumped after an eczema drug it is developing with Sanofi met its goals in a late-stage clinical trial. The stock gained $48.51, or 13.5 percent, to $408.95, leading a recovery in drugmaking stocks. Biotechnology companies including Amgen and Gilead Sciences also traded higher. GOING SOUR: Smartphone maker Blackberry reported disappointing quarterly results, with sales that fell far short of estimates. Its stock gave up 59 cents, or 7.3 percent, to $.50. LOSING ALTITUDE: Airlines fell after an analyst warned that companies may slash their business travel. Michael Linenberg of Deutsche Bank said U.S. corporate profits are getting squeezed, and he downgraded Delta, United Continental, American Airlines and Hawaiian. United Continental dipped $3.34, or 5.6 percent, to $56.52 and Delta fell $1.68, or 3.5 percent, to $47. American sank $1.32, or 3.2 percent, to $39.69. METALS: Gold fell $12.70, or 1 percent, to $1,222.90 an ounce and silver skidded 43 cents, or 2.8 percent, to $15.04 an ounce. Copper slid 2 cents to $2.16 a pound. OUTPERFORMING: Retailer Urban Outfitters disclosed strong sales at its older stores, and the stock added 92 cents, or 2.8 percent, to $34.01. Urban Outfitters is the best-performing stock on the S&P 500 index this year, as its value has surged 51 percent. OVERSEAS: Stocks overseas tumbled. Germany's DAX lost 1.7 percent and the CAC-40 in France tumbled 1.4 percent, and in Britain, the FTSE 100 lost 0.5 percent. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 sank 3.6 percent, while South Korea's Kospi fell 1.1 percent. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index declined 1.3 percent. Asian markets were hit by weak economic reports from Japan. The nations' big exporters have been hit by a double whammy of a slowing Chinese economy and a rising yen. BONDS, CURRENCIES: Bond prices slipped. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note rose to 1.78 percent from 1.77 percent. The dollar fell to 111.81 yen from 112.53 yen, while the euro rose to $1.1390 from $1.1387. ___ AP Markets Writer Marley Jay can be reached at http://twitter.com/MarleyJayAP His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/journalist/marley-jay

US stocks get a boost from solid March jobs report