The market managed to post a small gain during the final session of the week and the month. For the week, both the S&P 500 and the Dow lost less than 1% while for the month, they gained around 3%. It is the best monthly performance since last November. The day’s gain came despite some rather mixed economic news. Existing home sales for January fell 7.2% instead of a modest gain expected. It marks the second straight monthly drop. Separately, the Commerce Department reported a revised GDP figure of 5.9% instead of 5.7% for the final quarter of 2009. But growth in GDP is expected to slow in the coming quarters. Finally, the Chicago Purchasing Managers Index rose to 62.6 in February from 61.5 in January.

Most major sectors finished the session higher led by financials and industrials. The CRB commodity index rose 1.4%. The US dollar was lower against most major currencies. Treasury yields declined. The three-month US LIBOR was unchanged at 25 bps. The VIX index dropped less than one point. The market breath was positive on both NYSE and Nasdaq. The volume was a little lighter compared to the previous session.

The market gave back some of yesterday’s gain and finished the Thursday modestly lower. But it was well off its intra-day low when the Dow was down almost 200 points. Renewed concerns over the Greek debt issue and a poor job market report were the main reasons behind today’s weakness. The weekly jobless claims unexpectedly rose by 22K to a seasonally adjusted 496K in the latest week. It was also the second straight week that claims rose unexpected. Investors will focus on the non-farm payroll report that will be released next Friday. Separately, Durable goods orders increased a stronger-than-expected 3% in January. But orders excluding transportation unexpectedly dropped 0.6%.

All 10 major sectors finished the session lower led by telecom and utilities. The CRB commodity index declined 1.4%. The US dollar was mixed against most major currencies. Treasury yields climbed. The three-month US LIBOR was unchanged at 25 bps. The VIX index dropped less than one point. The market breath was negative on both NYSE and Nasdaq. The volume was a little heavier compared to the previous session.

The market rebounded on Wednesday with all three major indexes registering gains of around 1%. The gain came despite some rather negative news in the housing market. New home sales for January fell 11.2% month-over-month to an annualized rate of 309K, a record low. Economists had been looking for something closer to 350K units. However, investors seemed to believe the bad report was largely due to poor weather condition in that month. Separately, the Fed Chairman Bernanke indicated that FOMO is likely to keep the interest rate low for “an extended period of time”. The reassurance of low interest rates sent the US dollar lower and equity prices higher. As we have stated earlier that the market is likely to trade in a rather narrow range for the next few weeks, so one-up following one-down day should be quite normal ongoing.

The market retreated sharply on Tuesday with all three major indexes posting losses of around 1%. Poor consumer sentiment report gave investors a perfect excuse to move some chips off the table after huge recent gains. The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index fell to 46 in February from 56.5 in January. Economists on average had been expecting a reading of 55. Typically a reading above 90 shows a healthy economy. Separately, the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index rose 0.3% from November to December. Compared to one year ago, home prices were still lower by around 3.1%, which was also an improvement from a decline of 5.3% in November.

All 10 major sectors finished the session lower led by financial and materials. The CRB commodity index dropped 1.6%. The US dollar was higher against most major currencies. Treasury yields declined. The three-month US LIBOR was unchanged at 25 bps. The VIX index rose more than one point. The market breath was negative on both NYSE and Nasdaq. The volume was a little heavier compared to the previous session.

The market retreated slightly in the first session of the new week. The loss shouldn’t come as a surprise given that the market has gained more than 6% from its lows just two weeks ago. Technically, the S&P 500 is traded around its 50-day moving averages and some consolidation around this area could be positive for the market to move forward. Fundamentally, investors realized that the European debt issue and the Chinese economic growth issue wouldn’t have a huge impact in the domestic economy and the January sell-off had more to do with profit-taking from last year’s huge gain. Moving forward, I expect the market to move in a rather narrow range in the next two or three weeks. It may find a clear direction towards the end of the next month, when the Fed will stop some important programs.

Most major sectors finished the session lower led by energy and utilities. The CRB commodity index dipped 0.4%. The US dollar was mixed against most major currencies. Treasury yields mixed. The three-month US LIBOR was unchanged at 25 bps. The VIX index dropped slightly. The market breath was neutral on both NYSE and Nasdaq. The volume was a little lighter compared to the previous session.