Dartline™ … Closing Thoughts.

March 11, 2010, 4:00 pm EST — Closing Thoughts … The Standard & Poor’s 500 index closed up 4.63 to 1150.24 on weak volume. Meanwhile, the noise got good traction to cause stocks to grind higher that the Labor Department said workers filing for jobless benefits for the first time fell by 6,000 to 462,000 last week . Economists were predicting a bigger drop, while attempting to act surprise by the miss. Indeed, the report showed some easing in the labor market, but it didn’t point to the increase in hiring that investors want to see. Stocks have traded in a narrow range since the Labor Department said on Friday that employers cut fewer jobs in February than analysts expected. The market is looking for more signs of progress even misapplied. … In other economic news, the Commerce Department said the country’s trade deficit fell in January because of a big drop in imported oil and cars. U.S. exports dipped 0.3 percent. The slide in U.S. exports is giving investors pause because a drop in overseas sales could slow the recovery. … The way traders were able to shrug off the increase in China’s inflation in a week with little other economic data suggests that “less bad is the new good.” Even with very low volume, traders liked less news to spread the ‘good news” — THAT STOCK LOOK CHEAP. … All in all, the concept of an economic recovery is gaining new pundits. … Bond prices dipped. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves opposite its price, rose to 3.74 percent from 3.73 percent late Wednesday. The dollar was mixed against other major currencies, while gold prices fell. Crude oil rose 2 cents to settle at $82.11 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.