The market rallied strongly during the final session of the week and all three major indexes were sitting at fresh 52-week highs. The Dow is now only 3 points away from 11,000. For the week, the S&P 500 gained 1.4%, extending its winning streak to six weeks. The market is now at its highest level since September 2008.

All 10 major sectors finished the session higher led by telecom and energy. The CRB commodity index rose 0.3%. The US dollar was lower against most currencies. Treasury yields were little changed. The three-month US LIBOR advanced 1 bps to 30 bps. The VIX index dipped fractionally. The market breath was positive on both NYSE and Nasdaq. The volume was lighter compared to the previous session.

The market finished the Thursday modestly higher after recovering its early losses. We had some mixed economic news. Initial jobless claims fell 18K to 460K for the week ended Apr 3rd. The number was worse than expected. On the other hand, most nation's chain retailers reported better-than-expected same store sales results.

Most major sectors finished the session higher led by consumer discretionary and telecom. The CRB commodity index dropped 0.8%. The US dollar was lower against most currencies. Treasury yields were mixed. The three-month US LIBOR was unchanged at 29 bps. The VIX index dipped fractionally. The market breath was positive on both NYSE and Nasdaq. The volume was heavier compared to the previous session.

The market retreated on Wednesday with the S&P posting a loss of around 7 points. Believe it or not, it was the largest single day loss for more than one month. There is little economic news to move the market in today's trading. The only piece of economic news was from consumer credit, which fell by $11.5 billion in February. The prior month figure was revised upward to a $10.6 billion increase from a $5 billion increase.

All 10 major sectors finished the session lower led by telecom and energy. The CRB commodity index dipped 0.3%. The US dollar was higher against most currencies. Treasury yields were mixed. The three-month US LIBOR was unchanged at 29 bps. The VIX index rose 0.39. The market breath was negative on both NYSE and Nasdaq. The volume was similar compared to the previous session.

The market finished the session in a mixed fashion. The Dow, after spending most of the day hovering around the unchanged level, settled three points lower compared to the previous session. Market participants chose to focus on the Fed minutes from the latest FOMC meeting. According to those minutes, the Fed's statement about low interest rates for "an extended period of time" does not preclude the Fed from promptly tightening policy. Still, the Fed indicated that it could hold interest rate low if economy worsens or inflation declines.

Most major sectors finished the session little changed. The CRB commodity index dipped 0.4%. The US dollar was lower against most currencies. Treasury yields were lower. The three-month US LIBOR was unchanged at 29 bps. The VIX index dipped more than 3%. The market breath was neutral on both NYSE and Nasdaq. The volume was similar compared to the previous session.

The market continued to rally in the first trading session following the holiday long weekend. All three major indexes were at fresh 52-week highs and the Dow was only inches away from the psychologically significant 11,000 level. The focus of the session is the non-farm payrolls report released on Friday, which came in slightly less than expected at 162K new job positions. Nonetheless, investors deemed it as a sign that the job market has bottomed. The unemployment rate was unchanged from the previous month at 9.7% while hourly earnings fell by 0.1%.

Most major sectors finished the session higher led by materials and energy. The CRB commodity index rose 1.1%. The US dollar was mixed against most currencies. Treasury yields were higher. The three-month US LIBOR was unchanged at 29 bps. The VIX index dipped fractionally. The market breath was positive on both NYSE and Nasdaq. The volume was lighter compared to the previous session.