Wall Street closes mixed, indexes end May positive

NEW YORK (AA) - Wall Street ended Tuesday mixed with a rise in April personal spending and oil prices falling.

All three indexes wrapped up May on a higher note.

At the closing bell, The Dow Jones was down 86 points to end the day at 17,787. The S&P 500 fell 2 points to 2,096, while the Nasdaq added 14 points to finish at 4,948.

For the month, the Dow gained just 0.1 percent in May. The S&P rose 1.5 percent and the Nasdaq was the big winner, adding 3.6 percent.

Personal spending was up 1 percent in April, beating market expectations of a 0.6 percent increase. It marked the highest monthly increase in the last seven years, the Trade Department said Tuesday.

Meanwhile, oil prices began Tuesday above the $50 mark but fell below that critical benchmark later in the day.

At the final bell, West Texas Intermediate was down 0.8 percent to $48.94 a barrel and Brent crude was also down 1.4 percent to $49.67.

The global oil market is now focused on OPEC's biannual meeting Thursday in Vienna.