Market is closed for holiday.

The market rose strongly on the first session of the new month and quarter. All three major indexes were closed at fresh highs for the year before the holiday long-weekend. Stronger-than-expected ISM data gave investors new reason to load up stocks. The ISM Manufacturing for March came at 59.6, the best reading in five years. Separately, initial jobless claims dropped to 439K for the latest week, which was mostly in-line with expectations.

All 10 major sectors finished the session higher led by materials and energy. The CRB commodity index rose 1.1%. The US dollar was lower 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 similar compared to the previous session.

The market retreated on Wednesday as poor economic data provided investors with a perfect reason to book profits. It also concluded a rather remarkable first quarter, which sent the S&P 500 higher by almost 5%. The market has been in a steady pace to move higher since early February. The S&P 500 hasn’t suffered a loss of more than 1% for five weeks. In today’s economic news, the ADP Private Employment showed a loss of 23K jobs in March, which was in contrast to a modest rise expected. Separately, the Chicago PMI came in at 58.8 vs. 61.0 expected. The only better-than-expected news was factory orders for February, which increased 0.6%.

Most major sectors finished the session modestly lower led by tech and consumer discretionary. The CRB commodity index dipped 0.1%. 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 rose 2%. The market breath was negative on both NYSE and Nasdaq. The volume was similar compared to the previous session.

The market started the first session of the new week in a positive note with all three major indexes posting gains of around 0.5%. The Dow, meanwhile, posted its 18th gain out of the past 22 sessions. We are going to reach an interesting point pretty soon. On the one hand, this week has both quarter end and holiday weekend so things should be relatively quiet. On the other hand, we have several pieces of important economic news and the new earnings season is just two weeks away. Wall Street has already expected the following. First, the job report due this Friday should show positive job growth, which could signal a turning point in the job market; Second, the upcoming earnings season will be very good as comparisons are going to be very easy; Third, the Fed won’t be on the way to raise the benchmark interest rate until at least the end of the summer; Fourth, the economy will continue to grow although at a slower pace compared to the final quarter of last year. The question is how much of the good news has already been priced in.