March 01, 2013- Stocks Edge Looking to Break Resistance

After recovering from an early move to the downside, stocks saw modest strength for much of the remainder of the trading session on Friday. The strength on the day came as upbeat economic data overshadowed concerns about the impact of automatic government spending cuts. The major averages moved roughly sideways going into the close, hovering in positive territory. The Dow edged up 35.17 points or 0.3 percent to 14,089.66, the Nasdaq climbed 9.55 points or 0.3 percent to 3,169.74 and the S&P 500 inched up 3.52 points or 0.2 percent to 1,518.20. With the gains on the day, the major averages continued to rebound from Monday's sharp pullback and closed higher for the week. The Dow rose by 0.6 percent, while the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 crept up by 0.3 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively. While worries about the automatic spending cuts initially generated considerable selling pressure, stocks showed a substantial rebound following the release of an upbeat report on U.S. manufacturing activity.