Stocks Get Energy Surge

Stocks finish with solid gains Monday, but in a narrow trading range; commodities surge, lifted by a weakening dollar. Gregg Greenberg has The Real Story.

By Melinda Peer , Mar 29, 2010 4:48 PM EDT

NEW YORK (

TheStreet

) -- Stocks finished with solid gains Monday, buoyed by surging commodities that were themselves lifted by a weakening dollar, but the major equity indexes stayed locked within a tight trading range ahead of Friday's jobs report.

The

Dow Jones Industrial Average

added 46 points, or 0.4%, to 10,896. The

S&P 500

gained 7 points, or 0.6%, to 1173 and the

Nasdaq

went ahead by 9 points, or 0.4%, to 2404.

One market observer said the movement was indicative of traders positioning themselves ahead of the government nonfarm payroll report, which is due Friday, the same day the stock market will be closed for Good Friday.

"I think what the market is trying to do here is game a little in advance of Friday's jobs report, which it won't be able to trade on until Monday," said Paul Nolte, managing director at Dearborn Partners. "People are getting ready for Friday, getting ready for the number, and getting ready for church."

Markets also showed little reaction to news that two female

suicide bombers set off separate

explosions on Moscow's subway system Monday morning, killing at least 36 people.

Greece plans to issue a new seven-year bond in its

first debt offering since the European Union and International Monetary Fund pledged support to the country last week.

Overseas, Hong Kong's Hang Seng lifted 0.9%, and Japan's Nikkei fell 0.09%. The FTSE in London added 0.1%, and the DAX in Frankfurt gained 0.6%.

>>The Economy

>>Company News

>>Commodities and the Dollar

>>Treasuries

The Economy

Ahead of the opening bell, the Commerce Department said personal spending rose 0.3% as expected, in February after growing 0.4% in January. Personal incomes, however, remained unchanged while economists had projected an uptick of 0.1%.

PNC economist Stuart Hoffman blamed the lack of improvement in personal incomes on weak job growth.

"In the February income report, wage and salary income was unchanged for the month, in line with near neutral net job creation," Hoffman said, adding that wages and salaries comprise roughly half of total personal income.

Economists are expecting the Labor Department to report that the economy added 190,000 nonfarm payrolls in March when it releases its

March jobs report on Friday.

"Stronger hiring would have been evident last month if not for record snowfall across many regions of the country," said Deutsche Bank economist Joseph LaVorgna. "A massive increase in March nonfarm payrolls, partly the result of the weather payback and partly the result of improving labor demand, is projected for the next employment report."

Speaking of economic data and other headlines today, Alan Gayle, senior investment strategist at RidgeWorth Investments, said the "overall trend in the news is better." Still, he remained cautious ahead of several key economic reports this week.

"We're still waiting for news that the recovery is gaining sustainable traction," he said.

To his point, Gayle said he's waiting for Wednesday's Chicago PMI reading along with Friday's jobs report to get a more complete picture of the economic environment.

>>Overview

>>Company News

>>Commodities and the Dollar

>>Treasuries

Company News

Energy and basic materials stocks were the day's best performers, aided by a weaker dollar.

Exxon

(XOM) - Get Report

and

Chevron

(CVX) - Get Report

were among the Dow's biggest gainers, after

Caterpillar

(CAT) - Get Report

Merck

(MRK) - Get Report

and

Alcoa

(AA) - Get Report

Boeing

(BA) - Get Report

, however, was the Dow's top advancer.

Southwestern Energy

(SWN) - Get Report

led the gainers within the S&P 500, surging 8%, after receiving an upgrade and being added to the conviction list at Goldman Sachs.

British petroleum company

(BP) - Get Report

said it's closing its solar panel plant in Frederick, Md., and laying off 320 employees.

Apple

(AAPL) - Get Report

said

Best Buy

(BBY) - Get Report

will be its only partner when the iPad is launched on Saturday. Best Buy's stock lost 0.4% while Apple shares traded 0.7% higher, to $232.43.

The U.S. Treasury chose

Morgan Stanley

(MS) - Get Report

as underwriter and adviser to the sale of its 27% stake in

Citigroup

. Morgan Stanley's stock added 58 cents, or 2%, to $29.43 while Citi's stock fell by 13 cents, or 3%, to $4.18.

Financial stocks, in general, turned in the weakest performance of the day, as the KBW Bank index retreated 0.3%.

Citigroup shares were the most heavily traded on the

New York Stock Exchange

, followed by

Ford Motor

(F) - Get Report

and

Bank of America

(BAC) - Get Report

. The NYSE had a listed volume of nearly 4.4 billion while the Dow's volume was light at 136.6 million, compared to an average of 200 million.

Ford

(F) - Get Report

shares dropped 2.1% on news that it agreed to sell

Volvo

to China's

Geely Automobile Holdings

for $1.8 billion. Ford paid more than $6 billion for the brand in 1999.

"The sale enables Ford to focus on Ford brands," said UBS analyst Colin Langan. "Moreover, Volvo was a money-losing division."

Shares of

Apollo Group

(APOL)

improved 3.1% after the education provider reported improved enrollment and revenues. Second-quarter earnings, however, were negatively impacted by a pre-tax charge related to a class-action lawsuit.

Wal-Mart

(WMT) - Get Report

appears to be setting its sights on China and Japan for its e-commerce launch, according to

The Financial Times

. The stock advanced 23 cents, or 0.4%, to $55.74.

Vodafone

(VOD) - Get Report

and

Verizon Communications

(VZ) - Get Report

are reportedly discussing a full merger, according to a report in the U.K.'s

Daily Telegraph