IBT Staff Reporter

Rising gasoline and food prices lifted consumer spending in March and the increase in overall inflation from a year-ago was the largest in 10 months, government data showed on Friday.

Here are photos of the procession from Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace.

President Barack Obama - who will tour an area in Alabama devastated by fierce and deadly storms on Friday - signed a major disaster declaration for Alabama on Thursday, a move which authorizes federal funds for the state to deal with the aftermath of deadly storms that have killed 305 people.

U.S. stock index futures were little changed on Friday as a bullish stock market was set to enter the seasonally weak month of May with the Dow and the Nasdaq about to post their best month since December.

Caterpillar Inc recorded a fivefold surge in quarterly profit and raised its forecast for the rest of the year, citing rising demand for its bulldozers, excavators and other heavy equipment.

Kate Middleton's dress was the Royal Wedding's best kept secret. As it has been speculated before, Middleton's dress was by the head designer of Alexander McQueen, Sarah Burton.

Stock index futures pointed to a flat to lower open for Wall Street on Friday, reversing gains from the previous session on the last trading session of the month.

Gold steadied on Friday, just shy of fresh record highs and set for its seventh successive weekly gain, driven largely by the decline in the dollar to its lowest in nearly three years.

As the space shuttle Endeavour is set to launch for the final time, here is a look back at some of its 19-year history.

Here are photos of Kate Middleton arriving to Westminster Abbey.

Euro zone inflation rose further above the European Central Bank's target in April, data showed on Friday, increasing the chances of another interest rate rise in June, despite a weakening of economic sentiment.

On Thursday, April 29, 2011, the IAEA provided the following information on the current status of nuclear safety in Japan:

The big day for the much-anticipated Royal Wedding has arrived.

Nasdaq OMX and IntercontinentalExchange are poised to go hostile in their bid for NYSE Euronext after shareholders ratcheted up pressure on the Big Board parent to get a better deal.

Daimler posted robust quarterly results that underwhelmed investors whose expectations had been inflated by recent stellar reports by peers such as Volkswagen and truck maker Volvo .

The dollar languished near three-year lows on Friday, weighed down by weak U.S. data and the prospect of ultra-loose policy for months yet, while stocks paused for breath and a strong commodities rally tailed off.

Daimler warned that commodity prices may rise by more than it bargained for in coming months and maintained its full-year outlook after posting stronger than expected first-quarter operating profit.

Samsung Electronics faces a challenging outlook after reporting its third consecutive fall in quarterly profit as it struggles to make ground on Apple Inc and faces a tepid recovery in its TV and flat screens business.

Silver and gold were within sight of historic highs on Friday and could resume an uptrend as the U.S. dollar held near three-year lows against a basket of currencies on hopes U.S. monetary policy would stay ultra-loose, keeping inflationary price pressures high.

Daimler posted stronger than expected first-quarter operating profit as its passenger car business was boosted by demand from emerging markets such as China.

Blackstone Group LP plans to buy the top floors of the former New York Times building in Manhattan for $160 million, according to a report in the New York Times.

Credit card lenders could be facing more than $300 million of card replacement costs if customers affected by the Sony Corp data breach decide to replace their credit cards.

The dollar floundered at three-year lows against a basket of currencies on Friday, keeping precious metals near record highs, although the risk of dealers covering bets against the beleaguered U.S. currency in thin trading looms, especially given holidays in some centers including Japan.

Strong demand for smartphones continued to boost overall cellphone market volumes in January-March, research firms said on Friday.

Samsung Electronics Co, the world's top memory chip maker, reported its weakest quarterly profit in almost two years and warned of challenging business conditions.

In the run-up to one of the hottest social media IPOs of the year, China's Renren Inc lowered the number of users it said it gained in the first quarter of 2011, raising questions about the rest of the information it provided to investors in official filings.

Warren Buffett will not limit the scope of questions he is asked at this weekend's annual meeting of his conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway , the iconic investor told Fox Business on Thursday.

Superman, the character long associated with 'Truth, Justice, and the American Way, is renouncing his U.S. citizenship in the latest issue of Action Comics.

Join the International Business Times in covering Prince William's and Kate Middleton's royal wedding.