US stocks registered modest gains for the week that ended on Friday, 12 March, 2010. The week witnessed lack of any major catalyst for market movements. Economic data dominated the week. The dollar also fluctuated during the week affecting stocks movements with the dollar index registering sharp drop on Friday itself.

For the week, that ended on Friday, 12 March, 2010, Dow ended higher by 58.49 points (0.6%) at 10,624.69. Nasdaq ended higher by 41.31 points (1.8%) at 2367.66. S&P 500 gained 11.29 points (1%) at 1149.99. Seven of ten economic sectors ended higher led by substantial gains in telecom, financials, and technology sectors.

During the week, the economic reports during the earlier part of the week were a bit disappointing in nature. Pending home sales for January fell 7.6% month-over-month. A 1% monthly increase had been expected. Also, ISM Manufacturing for February came in at 56.5, which was below the 57.9 consensus.

During the week, the technology sector was in focus after Texas Instruments announced an improved its earnings outlook, which remained in in-line with that of Wall Street. In another development, Cisco Systems unveiled plans for its new router, which is expected to improve the flow of content and, in turn, inspire further content development. This benefitted Cisco's potential customers.

Telecom sector was in focus after AT&T said it completed a test with Cisco System's new router, which allowed its long-distance Internet backbone to carry data traffic roughly 10,000 times faster than the average household cable or DSL connection.

On Friday, 12 March, 2010, major U.S. stock indexes finished mixed as investors paused their recent betting spree in the financial sector, which snapped a 10-day winning streak.

On that day, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended higher by 12.85 points at 10,624.69. Nasdaq ended lower by 0.80 points at 2367.66. S&P 500 ended marginally lower by 0.25 points at 1149.99. Five of ten economic sectors ended lower for the day led by utilities, financial and healthcare sectors. Industrial and material sectors were a couple of winners.

GE was the main winner among Dow components while Pfizer slipped. Pfizer fell 1.2% after the drug manufacturer said it ended a late-stage trial for an experimental lung-cancer drug.

Among key economic data for the day, stocks first added to gains after a report that U.S. retail sales rose a better-than-expected 0.3% last month. But a survey from Reuters and the University of Michigan that showed sentiment among consumers unexpectedly fell in March reversed the trend.

The Commerce Department reported that U.S. retail sales rose 0.3% in February, in line with expectations. But the preliminary University of Michigan/Reuters consumer sentiment index fell to 72.5, from 73.6 in February. Market had anticipated it would rise to 73.8.

Crude prices pared earlier gains and ended lower on Friday, 12 March 2010. Prices fell after weak economic data dampened overall sentiment. Earlier in the day prices rose as International Energy Agency increased demand forecast for crude and due to higher retail sales data.

On Friday, crude-oil futures for light sweet crude for April delivery closed at $81.24/barrel (lower by $0.87 or 1%). Prices lost 0.4% for the week.

IEA was the latest one to raise demand forecast for crude. The IEA revised up by 70,000 barrels a day its oil demand forecast for 2010, pointing to growth in Asia. As per the report, global oil demand is expected to rise by 1.6 million barrels a day, or 1.8% year-on-year, to 86.6 million barrels a day in 2010. In contrast, demand is estimated to have contracted by 1.2 million barrels a day, or 1.4% year-on-year, to 85.0 million barrels a day in 2009.

The report detailed that after five consecutive quarters of decline, global oil demand began growing again on a yearly basis in the fourth quarter of 2009. However, this year's demand growth will be fueled entirely by emerging countries, particularly those in Asia.

In the currency market on Friday, the dollar was down for its third straight session as the euro and British pound bounced amid news that industrial production in Europe spiked a sharper-than-expected 1.7% in January. Reports that Goldman Sachs have instructed clients to buy the euro also weighed on the greenback. The dollar index slipped by almost 0.6%.

Indian ADRs ended mixed on Friday but with majority of them losing. Dr Reddy's ad Sterlite Industries were among the handful of winners gaining 1% each. Rediff.com slipped 5.7%.

Looking ahead to next week, the economic calendar is much full. Monday brings Industrial Production and the TIC data, where China's holdings of U.S. Treasuries will be in focus. The rest of the week brings Housing Starts and Building Permits on Tuesday, PPI on Wednesday and CPI on Thursday. However, the biggest event will be from the Federal Reserve, as the FOMC policy directive is due out Tuesday afternoon.

For the year, Dow, Nasdaq and S&P 500 are higher by 1.9%, 4.3% and 3.1% respectively.