Nasdaq, S&P 500 and Dow Surge Amid Mixed Economic Reports and Sector Shifts

Stocks surged with Nasdaq up 1.5%, S&P 500 gaining 1.1%, and Dow rising 1.1%. Despite weak job growth in February, a rise in service sector activity and strong sector performances lifted markets.

The Nasdaq surged 267.57 points (1.5%) to 18,552.73, the S&P 500 shot up 64.48 points (1.1%) to 5,842.63 and the Dow jumped 485.60 points (1.1%) to 43,006.59.

Earlier in the day, some negative sentiment was generated in reaction to a report from payroll processor ADP showing much weaker than expected private sector job growth in the month of February. ADP said private sector employment rose by 77,000 jobs in February after climbing by an upwardly revised 186,000 jobs in January.

Private sector job growth slowed to the lowest level since last July, with trade and transportation, health care and education, and information showing job losses, ADP said. "Policy uncertainty and a slowdown in consumer spending might have led to layoffs or a slowdown in hiring last month," said ADP chief economist Nela Richardson. She added, "Our data, combined with other recent indicators, suggests a hiring hesitancy among employers as they assess the economic climate ahead."

Airline stocks substantially moved upwards following recent weakness, with the NYSE Arca Airline Index soaring by 4.3%. Gold stocks were significantly strong , as reflected by the 4.0% surge by the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index. The rally by gold stocks came amid an increase by the price of the precious metal. Steel stocks too were considerably strong , resulting in a 3.5% jump by the NYSE Arca Steel Index. Telecom, software and networking stocks moved notably higher while oil producer stocks moved sharply lower amid a steep drop by the price of crude oil.

Asia-Pacific stocks moved mostly higher. Japan's Nikkei 225 Index edged up by 0.2%, China's Shanghai Composite Index rose by 0.5% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index surged by 2.8%. European stocks moved upwards. The German DAX Index spiked by 3.4% and the French CAC 40 Index jumped by 1.6%, although the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index bucked the uptrend and closed just below the unchanged line.

In the bond market, treasuries extended the pullback seen over the course of the previous session. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note which moves opposite of its price, climbed 5.5 basis points to 4.26%.

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