Blue chips extended gains Monday, with the Dow and S&P 500 bouncing for a fifth straight session, but the tech-fueled Nasdaq struggled to extend its advance.
The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) added 86 points, or 1.2% over an hour into the session. The S&P 500 (SPX) index added 10 points, or 1.4%. The Nasdaq composite (COMP) lost 4 points, or 0.3%.
Stocks rallied last week, bouncing back after the Dow and S&P 500 hit 12-year lows. The week was Wall Street's best since last November with the Dow gaining 9%, the S&P 500 gaining 10.7% and the Nasdaq adding 10.6%.
Talk about reinstating the "uptick rule" that limits short selling - and changing mark-to-market accounting - helped spark the gains. Also, Citigroup (C, Fortune 500), JPMorgan Chase (JPM, Fortune 500) and Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500) all said that they were profitable in the first two months of the year. On Monday, British bank Barclays (BCS) continued the trend, saying that it had a good start to the year.
The banking sector faces more writedowns and turmoil in the months ahead, but the announcements from the companies were nonetheless reassuring to investors.
Technology stocks retreated after the recent rally, with Intel (INTC, Fortune 500), Dell (DELL, Fortune 500) and Oracle (ORCL, Fortune 500) all lower.
G-20: Finance ministers of the Group of 20 industrialized nations meeting over the weekend promised to do whatever is necessary to fix the global economy and repair the shaky banking system. The group also backed increased support for emerging markets.
But the group remained wary of a U.S. proposal for a broader coordinated government spending plan to stimulate global economies. A summit of the group's national leaders is scheduled in London on April 2.
Bernanke: Speaking on CBS's "60 Minutes" this weekend, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said that the recession will "probably" end this year if the government is successful in stabilizing the flailing banking system.
The Fed is meeting Tuesday and Wednesday to discuss interest rates, with an announcement expected Wednesday afternoon. The central bank is expected to hold the fed funds rate, its key short-term interest rate, essentially at zero.
However, the Fed could announce that it's going to start buying long-term U.S. Treasurys after saying it was prepared to do so at its last few meetings.
Economy: February industrial production continued to decline last month, as the recession wore on. The government said production fell by a seasonally adjusted 1.4% in the month versus forecasts for a fall of 1.3%. Production fell 1.9% in the previous month.
Capacity utilization, a measure of factory output, fell to 70.9% from 71.9% in January. Economists surveyed by Briefing.com thought it would fall to 71%.
The NY Empire State index, a key regional manufacturing report, fell to a record low of negative 38.2 in March from negative 34.7 in February.
Bonds: Treasury prices inched lower, raising the yield on the benchmark 10-year note to 2.97% from 2.90% Friday. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Lending rates were little changed. The 3-month Libor rate fell to 1.31% from 1.32% Friday, while the overnight Libor rate held at 0.33%, according to Bloomberg.com. Libor is a bank-to-bank lending rate.
Other markets: In global trading, Asian markets ended higher and European markets gained in afternoon trading.
In currency trading, the dollar fell versus the euro and gained against the yen.
U.S. light crude oil for April delivery fell $1.88 to $44.37 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
COMEX gold for April delivery fell $13.60 to $916.50 an ounce.
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