Bouncing Stocks Face Hurdle

Look Ma, we can rally.

Proving that Tuesday's bounce was no fluke is what Thursday's stock market action was all about, says Randy Diamond, trader at Miller Tabak. He adds that relatively light trading volume also suggests that many market participants are on the sidelines waiting for Friday's nonfarm payrolls report from the Labor Department.

Indeed, the rally couldn't have been based on economic data. More mixed messages poured in Thursday. Retail sales in February were weak overall, but retail stocks rallied, and the Federal Reserve reported that household net worth in the fourth quarter jumped $1.4 trillion to a record $55.6 trillion.

Weekly initial jobless claims were lower than expected, but traders are prepared for a weak payrolls report on Friday. Lastly, rumors swirled about mortgage lender New Century Financial(NEW Quote) seeking Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.6% to close at 12,260.06 but finished about 43 points lower than its intraday peak. The S&P 500 gained 0.7% to close at 1401.77, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.6% to close at 2387.73.

New Century fell 25% on the day, while other mortgage lenders Accredited Home Lenders(LEND Quote) and Countrywide Financial(CFC Quote) slid 2.4% and 1.1%, respectively.

Leading the Dow upward was a 3.1% advance in AT&T(T Quote) after an analyst upgrade. Verizon(VZ Quote) added more than 2% on news that Internet phone company Vonage (VG Quote) was ordered to pay $58 million to Verizon for patent infringements. Vonage fell 3.8%.