FRIDAY - MARCH 12, 2010: A rally in financial stocks helped the market extend its grind higher to a third day Thursday. The Standard & Poor's 500 index cleared an important hurdle watched by traders when it closed just above its January peak to set a new 17-month high. That could bring some hesitant buyers into the market. Financial shares rose after Citigroup Inc. CEO Vikram Pandit said the bank was on a path toward "sustained profitability" as it sells off risky assets. The bank has been the hardest hit by the financial crisis so the upbeat assessment helped boost expectations about the economy. The climb by financials helped offset concern about a spike in inflation in China. The country said its inflation rate rose to 2.7 percent in February from 1.5 percent in January. A steep rise in prices could force China to raise interest rates. That, in turn, could slow one of the world's fastest-growing economies and put a damper on a global recovery.

Jim Dunigan, managing executive of investments at PNC Wealth Management, said he expects that China will be able to contain prices for now. "We'll see hints of inflation here and there but I don't think we'll see that problem for a while," he said. In the U.S., 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 slightly bigger drop, according to Thomson Reuters. 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.

The week's quiet trading comes as investors look for more signs about the direction of the economy. With major stock indexes near 15-month highs traders are cautious about putting too much money into the market. By the close of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average rose 44.51, or 0.4 percent, to 10,611.84. It is down 1.1 percent from its recent high in Jan. 19. The S&P 500 index advanced 4.63, or 0.4 percent, to 1,150.24, its highest close since Oct. 1, 2008. The Nasdaq composite index rose 9.51, or 0.4 percent, to 2,368.46 for its sixth straight advance.