Market Update

Coming off of only its second weekly loss in 12 weeks the stock market is up solidly on the back of renewed broad-based buying.

Stocks opened the day on a decidedly positive note. The move was helped along by strength in Europe, where Germany’s DAX helped lead efforts to advance following a multi-month high in its latest business climate reading. That helped temper concerns related to Spain’s ability to implement fiscal reform. Additionally, a speech this morning by Fed Chairman Bernanke seemed to suggest that the Fed recognizes the need to remain accommodative in its policies, given that job market conditions remain far from normal.

Health Care stocks have had an impressive session so far. The sector is currently sitting on a 1.3% gain with help from health care facilities plays and managed care providers. Industrials and Financials are close behind with gains of 1.2%.

Telecom and Utilities — both defensive in nature — are each up 0.2%. Their lackluster performance today is consistent with how they have fared in 2012.

Without higher oil prices to provide Energy stocks with a boon, the Energy sector has lagged the rest of the market for most of the session. Collectively, Energy stocks are currently up 0.4%, which is less than half of what the broad market has put together. Oil prices have chopped along the neutral line for most of the session and currently sit at $106.80 per barrel, which makes for a 0.1% loss.

An increased tolerance for risk has allowed the dollar to drift lower. Its descent has left it lagging a collection of competing currencies by about 0.4% after it had been relatively flat this morning.

The only consequential piece of domestic data released today was the pending home sales report for February. In a surprise slip, they fell 0.5% from the prior month. DJ30 +117.65 NASDAQ +36.71 SP500 +12.64 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1865/765 mln/590 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2190/290 mln/755

Market update