A key jobs report will be at the centre of market action in the coming week as Wall Street stocks posted their fourth straight weekly gain in the penultimate trading week of the month.
Concerns over the Greek fiscal crisis kept the market gripped the past week when European leaders set aside weeks of bickering and agreed on a joint plan with the International Monetary Fund to tackle the country's mountain of debt. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added one percent over the week to finish Friday at 10,850.36, its highest weekly finish in 18 months.
The broader S&P 500 index was up 0.6 percent to 1,166.59 while the tech-rich Nasdaq composite gained 0.9 percent to 2,395.13, its highest weekly close in 19 months.
Among the US economic indicators expected the coming week is the non-farm payroll employment report on Friday which many analysts expect to be positive even as unemployment remained a key impediment to economic recovery.
Most analysts forecast non-farm payroll in March to add 200,000 jobs - compared with 36,000 job losses in February - partly due to temporary hiring for the Census Bureau to conduct a massive census exercise.
Despite the expected job additions, analysts expect the unemployment rate to remain at 9.7 percent in March. "After a downturn of breathtaking severity, the labour market is on the verge of growth once again," said Aaron Smith, a senior economist for Moody's Economy.com., in anticipation of the Census hirings.
"The employment report... should be positive" for the market, said Chief Well Fargo advisors market strategist Al Goldman.
Goldman said that the Dow index could find support at 10,800-10,700 and the S&P 500 at 1,160-1,150 levels. "The good news remains a recovering economy, low interest rates and little inflation," he said. But some analysts believe the market may face some consolidation after massive gains.
"The market has enjoyed a nice 10-percent rally coming off the February lows and appears ripe for some modest profit taking," said Frederic Dickson, chief market strategist at D.A. Davidson & Co. "We do not see a near-term pullback extending much more than two to three percent as investors with cash appear anxious to pounce on even small rallies," he said.
Analysts at IHS Global Insight said aside from improving job numbers, consumer confidence, a key barometer for the economy, also showed improvement prospects. "Preliminary signs of an upturn in labour markets, along with further gains in stock prices, will be the main drivers of an expected strong bounce back from what looks like a rogue downshift in February," said IHS economists Brian Bethune and Nigel Gault in a report.
"Consumers are also reporting some improvement in personal finances. Reports of rising light vehicle sales in March are another indication that the consumer markets recovery is gaining momentum," they said.