Stocks continue to march higher, hitting a one and a half year high fueled by strong demand for industrials.

After the first two days of trading this week, the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 156 points, or 1.45%, to finish at 10,888.83, the S&P 500 added 14.27 points, or 1.23%, ending at 1,174.17, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 57 points, or 2.42%, to settle at 2,415.24.

Health care stocks were a laggard on Tuesday, but still posted another day in the green after President Obama signed a sweeping reform bill into law. Materials joined industrials as a market leader thanks to stabilizing gold, silver, and copper prices. Gold climbed 0.5% to settle at $1,105.20/troy oz, silver added 0.6% ending at $17.04/troy oz, and copper tacked on 0.25 to finish at $3.389/lb.

The resurgent residential real estate market may be showing signs of slowing after the latest existing home sales report. February sales slumped 0.6% compared with January, leading to a sharp increase in seasonal supply. On Tuesday, the FHFA reported seasonally adjusted home prices for federal agency sponsored mortgages declined 0.6% in January, on top of a 2% decrease for December. Although the buyer market does not appear to have been exhausted, federal stimulus and extraordinarily low rates can only prop up the market for so long. Wednesday’s new home sales report should provide further illumination.

Looking ahead, Wall Street will shift its focus from Washington to housing and GDP data, along with key earnings reports due up from Oracle and Best Buy.

Macroeconomic data due up this week:

Wednesday – New home sales (February), durable goods orders (February), oil inventories (Weekly)

Thursday – Jobless claims (Weekly), Federal Reserve balance sheet, money supply

Friday – GDP (Q4), Consumer Sentiment (March)

Tuesday marked the 1-year anniversary of the bear market bottom when the market hit a 12-year low on March 9, 2009. The S&P has advanced nearly 70% since then and Tuesday’s closing price marked the highest level on the NASDAQ since September 2008.

Following the first two trading days this week, the Dow Jones edged down slightly to 10,564.38, while the S&P 500 is up 0.2% to 1,140.44, and the tech-heavy NASDAQ increased 0.6% to finish at 2,340.68.

There was little in the way of widely-followed economic data at the start of the week. In a lesser-known economic report, consumer confidence slipped in March to its lowest level in nearly a year, as high unemployment and a stalled recovery have dampened sentiment. The Investor’s Business Daily and TechnoMetrica Market Intelligence survey revealed that their IBD/TIPP Economic Optimism Index retreated to a reading of 45.4 in March, down from February’s reading of 46.8.

Looking further inside the IBD/TIPP index, a measurement of the personal financial outlook slipped by more than 5% to a reading of 50.7 in March, while the index’s six-month outlook dropped 4.7% to a reading of 46.4. Although the six-month outlook looks bleak, it still remains 14.3 points higher than its lowest reading set back in December 2007.

The Labor Department revealed on Tuesday that the number of job openings in January increased substantially. Openings have risen more than 7.5% to 2.7M, compared to December’s reading. Meanwhile, the job-opening rate, which measures available jobs as a percentage of total employment, increased by 2.1%.

The data also showed that there are currently about 5.5 unemployed workers competing for each job opening. Although the number is slightly better than the six people per job opening in December 2009, it still remains well above the 1.7 people per opening that was observed prior to the start of the economic recession.

As the driving season approaches, motorists could face a substantial increase in the price of gasoline. To kick of the week, the average retail price for gas has already matched its yearly highs in 2010, and could be well on its way to topping $3 a gallon by the spring.

By Tuesday, the national average price of gasoline advanced $0.006 to $2.759 a gallon, surpassing its yearly high of $2.7583 established on January 14. Within the last month, prices have increased by $0.102 and are now $0.814 higher than the price from this time last year.

The recent surge in prices was a direct result of the 18% increase in oil prices over the past month, which has pushed the price of crude to near its 2010 high of $83.95 a barrel. As of March 9, the price for a barrel of light, sweet crude for April delivery was priced at $81.49 a barrel.

The Forex markets saw the dollar trade higher versus the majority of the world’s currencies. The 16-nation Euro declined against the greenback, buying $1.3601, lower than the previous session’s price of $1.3633. The British pound also decreased versus the dollar as the sterling slipped from $1.5072 to $1.4998. However, the dollar did decrease in value against the Japanese yen, buying 89.95, down from Monday’s value of 90.25.

Macroeconomic data picks up in the latter half of the week featuring Wholesale Inventories, Trade Balance and Business Inventory reports for January, weekly results for Initial Claims and Crude Inventories, the Treasury Budget and Retail Sales reports for February, and the Michigan Sentiment report for March.

Major stock indexes rose to their highest levels in more than a month early this week after corporate buyouts raised hopes about the economy.

Following the first two trading days this week, the Dow Jones was higher by 0.8% at 10,405.98, while the broader market indicators were in positive ground as well. The S&P 500 was up 1.3% at 1,118.30, while the tech-heavy NASDAQ increased 1.8% to finish at 2,279.36.

Personal spending jumped by a larger amount than expected in January but Americans’ incomes barely budged as millions of Social Security recipients did not get their usual cost of living boost. The weak income growth could depress spending in the months ahead, acting as a further drag on the fragile economic recovery.

The Commerce Department said Monday that personal spending rose by 0.5 percent in January, slightly better than expected. However, incomes edged up only 0.1 percent, significantly lower than the 0.4 percent gain that economists had expected.

The 0.1 percent rise in incomes was below the 0.4 percent gain that economists had expected. The weakness came even though private wages and salaries were up by $16.1 billion at an annual rate, compared to a $2.3 billion gain in December.

The income gain was the weakest showing in four months and raised more concerns about whether consumers will be able to keep spending at a sufficiently strong pace to support an economic rebound.

With after-tax incomes falling as spending increased, the personal savings rate dipped to 3.3 percent in January, down from 4.2 percent in December. For all of 2009, the savings rate had risen to 4.3 percent, the highest annual savings rate since 1998.

An industry trade group says the manufacturing sector expanded in February for the seventh straight month, but at a slower pace than in the previous month.

The Institute for Supply Management said Monday that its manufacturing index read 56.5 last month, slightly slower than the 58.4 growth in January. It was also slower than the 58 level expected by economists polled by Thomson Reuters.

ISM said its employment measure grew for the fourth time in five months, accelerating to 56.1 in February from 53.3 in January. February’s number is the highest since January 2005.

Construction spending fell for a third straight month in January as a lag in commercial activity such as office buildings and hotels offset a housing rebound.

The Commerce Department said Monday that construction spending dropped 0.6 percent in January, a decline that was slightly smaller than the 0.7 percent drop that economists had expected.

Housing construction rose 1.3 percent, although that gain could be temporary given the weakness seen in sales of both new and existing homes in January. Spending on nonresidential projects fell by 2.1 percent.

With the third monthly decline, construction spending in January stood at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $884.12 billion, down 11.5 percent from a year ago.

Economic data due up for the remainder of the week includes the ISM Services number, the Fed’s Beige Book, along with Productivity numbers, Factory Orders, Pending Homes Sales and the important February Employment Report, released on Friday morning.

Mixed housing, consumer confidence, and corporate earnings put investors in a cautious mood at the start of the week.

Following the first two trading days this week, the Dow Jones was lower by 1.2% at 10,282.41, while the broader market indicators were in negative ground as well. The S&P 500 was down 1.3% at 1,094.60, while the tech-heavy NASDAQ decreased 1.4% to finish at 2,213.44.

A report from the Conference Board stated that confidence from shoppers took a surprising dip in February, marking the first time in three months that the monthly poll showed a decline. During the month, the consumer confidence index slipped nearly 11 points to a reading of 46, well below the revised reading in January of 56.5. On average, analysts were looking for the index to post a more modest decline to a reading of 55.

Another reading showed that consumers’ assessment of current economic conditions plunged from 25.2 in January to a reading of 19.4 in February. A guage which measures the outlook for the next six months also declined, falling from 77.3 to 63.8.

On the housing front, the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index released on Tuesday showed a 0.3% gain in December to a seasonally adjusted reading of 145.87. Despite posting a minimal gain from November’s reading, the current reading remains more than 3% off last December’s showing.

The reading also revealed that only five of the 20 cities surveyed showed a decline in home prices from November to December. The index sits more than 3% higher than the industries bottom that was set last May, but is 30% below its all-time high reached in May 2006. On a quarterly basis, U.S. home prices fell 2.5% during Q4 of 2009 compared to the same period in 2008.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) announced on Tuesday that the nation’s banks posted a small profit during Q4, despite more than 700 banks being classified as troubled. During the quarter, the financial institutions posted a gain of $914M, in sharp contrast to the same period a year ago in which the banking industry posted a $37.8B loss.

Economic data due up for the remainder of the week includes New Home Sales, Durable Orders and Existing Home Sales reports for January, the FHFA Housing Price Index report for December, the Chicago PMI and the final reading for the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment report for February, weekly results for Initial Claims and Crude Inventories and the second estimate readings of GDP for the fourth quarter.

After the U.S. market was closed in observance of President’s Day, bulls stampeded to a big win on Tuesday. The rally came on the heels of a 1% rally at the end of last week’s trading.

On Tuesday, the Dow Jones jumped 1.7% to 10,268.81, the S&P 500 surged 1.8% to 1,094.87, and the tech-heavy NASDAQ increased 1.4% to finish at 2,214.19.

Stocks were buoyed by higher commodity prices which were driven by a weak dollar and economic data that suggests demand for crude in the U.S. could be improving. By the close of trading, the price for a barrel of light, sweet crude for March delivery gained $2.88, or 4%, to settle at $77.01.

In macroeconomic news, a report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York announced early Tuesday morning that manufacturing within the region expanded at a much faster pace than anticipated. In February, the Empire Manufacturing index jumped to a reading of 24.9, higher than the 18 reading economists were looking for and well ahead of January’s 15.9 reading.

The New York Fed also revealed that the region’s employment index advanced from a reading of 4 last month to 5.6, while a measurement for a six-month outlook of new orders increased to 55.6 from 52 in January. The current reading marked the highest level since February 2006.

Sales in the N.Y. region also increased to a tally of 55.6, the highest since January 2006, while the gauge of current shipments slipped from 21.1 to 15.1. New factory orders declined from 20.5 to 8.8, and a gauge of prices paid decreased to 31.9 from 32, while prices received increased from 2.7 to 4.2.

The U.S. Department of Treasury revealed that the nation’s net long-term TIC flows in December slipped to $63.3B, down almost half from January’s total of $126.4B. Results came in better than expected, as economists were predicting that the TIC flow would slip even lower to a reading of $50.3B. TIC stands for Treasury International Capital and is an economic measurement that shows capital flows in and out of the U.S.

Economic data still due up this week includes the Philadelphia Fed report for February, Treasury Budget, Housing Starts, Industrial Production, Building Permits, Import/Export Prices, Capacity Utilization, Leading Indicators, PPI, and CPI reports for January. Weekly results for Initial Claims and Crude Inventories are due out as well.

The week kicked off with a down day in the markets, as the Dow Jones closed Monday’s session below the psychological level of 10,000, its first trip under that mark in more than three months. Nevertheless, Tuesday’s trading was more upbeat, despite a report from the Commerce Department that showed a decrease in inventories.

With pessimism running rampant throughout businesses, inventories at the wholesale level receded 0.8% in December, as companies remain conservative about restocking their depleted supplies. The unexpected decline came as a surprise for economists, who were anticipating wholesale inventories to increase by 0.5% during the month.

The one bright spot in the report showed a 0.8% advance in sales throughout December, while economists had projected a smaller increase of only 0.5%. The jump in sales follows an even bigger increase in November in which sales surged 3.6%.

After falling below $72 a barrel last week, energy prices reversed their downward trend to start the week, as investors took heed of economic data suggesting that demand for crude in the U.S. could be improving. By the close of trading, the price for a barrel of light, sweet crude for March delivery gained $2.04 to settle at $73.93. The current contract gained $0.70 to settle at $71.89 a barrel on Monday.

At the pump, gasoline prices have receded nearly $0.06 over the past two weeks to a national average of $2.67 a gallon. Additionally, a gallon of regular unleaded gas is $0.085 cheaper than last month, yet remains $0.731 higher than the same time last year.

The Forex markets saw the Dollar trade lower versus the majority of the world’s currencies, as the 16-nation Euro advanced against the greenback, buying $1.3750, up from the previous session’s price of $1.3695. The British pound also increased versus the Dollar, as the Sterling climbed from $1.5611 late Monday to $1.5630.

The Dollar did manage to increase in value against the Japanese yen, buying 89.40, up from yesterday’s value of 89.24.

Despite a weakening Dollar, Treasury prices were lower Tuesday, as investors were uncertain as to where to place their capital. With the day’s trading complete, the benchmark 10-year note was down, falling 8/32 to 98 6/32, with a yield of 3.63%, up 0.07% from the day before.

Meanwhile, the longer maturing 30-year note was lower on the day as well, slipping 15/32 to 97 17/32, as its yield advanced to 4.52%. Lastly, the shorter maturing 2-year note was marginally lower, falling 1/32 to 100 5/32, while its yield increased 0.03% to 0.79%.

Following the first two trading days this week, the Dow Jones was collectively higher by 0.5% at 10,058.64, while the broader market indicators were in positive ground as well. The S&P 500 was up 0.4% at 1,070.52, while the tech-heavy NASDAQ increased 0.5% to finish at 2,150.87.

The remainder of the week will see a handful of economic data released that will include the Business Inventory report for December, as well as weekly results for Initial Claims and Crude Inventories.

The final three days will also include the Treasury Budget and Retail Sales readings for January, along with the Michigan Sentiment report for February.