Stocks notch stellar first quarter

NEW YORK – U.S. stocks on Friday snared their biggest first-quarter gain in more than a decade, after a better-than-anticipated rise in consumer confidence and spending boosted views of the economy.

The S&P 500’s 12 percent rise in the first quarter would represent “a stunning year, and is even more so as a quarter,” said Marc Pado, U.S. market strategist at DowBull.com.

“But I do think it’s a comeback from an underexposed level for institutions; they were so scared they were hiding in defensive issues, and are now looking for opportunities to make money and not just hide. That shift alone has also helped move markets higher,” he said.

Up 8.1 percent for the quarter, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 66.22 points on Friday, or 0.5 percent, to 13,212.04, sealing its best first-quarter point gain in its history.

“There is a general sense that we’ve gotten past the worst of the European crisis and the U.S. economy is gaining momentum,” said Alan Skrainka, chief investment officer at Cornerstone Wealth Management.

The S&P 500 climbed 5.19 points, or 0.4 percent, to 1,408.47, garnering its biggest first-quarter advance since 1998.

Energy, health care and consumer staples rose the most among its 10 major industry groups, with the latter two “indicating a somewhat defensive tone,” said Michael Sheldon, chief market strategist at RDM Financial.

“Today is the last day of the quarter, so there are the cross currents between under-invested portfolio managers and those taking profits after a fairly decent run-up in the market so far this year,” Sheldon said on the end-of-quarter positioning.

“There’s often a lot of selling of positions that didn’t quite work out, and end-of-quarter window dressing, with some shelling out a major position in Apple, of course,” Skrainka said. “A lot of managers have a lot of egg on their face since they didn’t own the stock,” he added of the technology company’s 48 percent climb so far this year.