YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: Stocks started March with a strong, broad-based push to fresh one-month highs in the face of a stronger dollar, but equities ran into resistance as the S&P 500 attempted to turn positive for the year.

All three major indices spent the entire session in higher ground with solid gains. The Nasdaq Composite was the strongest of the headline indices, thanks to leadership from large-cap tech. SanDisk (SNDK 32.63, +3.48) was one of the best performers in the Nasdaq after the company's improved outlook during its investor conference this past Friday won it the favor of several Wall Street firms.

Though gains in the S&P 500 were strong, the broad market index struggled to move above the 1115 line, which separates year-to-date positive from year-to-date negative. The line was balanced for the entire afternoon, but stocks made a last minute spurt so that the broad market index was able to eke out a fractional year-to-date gain and settle back above its 50-day moving average.

Materials stocks were among the better performers in the broader market. The sector settled with a 1.6% gain as diversified metals and miners plays climbed amid copper supply concerns that stemmed from the recent earthquake in copper-rich Chile.

Such sentiment helped materials stocks shrug off a stronger dollar, which advanced roughly 0.5% against a basket of competing currencies. Though that was a strong gain for the greenback, it only half of what the dollar had traded with while at its session high. The greenback's gain came as the euro and British pound fell out of favor amid concerns related to deficits in Europe.

Despite concerns about the fiscal health of Europe's economies, strong manufacturing data out of the euro zone helped the major European bourses put together solid gains of their own in the week's first session. Those gains contributed to a 1.0% advance in the Dow Jones World Index.

U.S. economic data was met with little response as January personal income increased 0.1%, which was below the 0.4% increase that had been expected. Spending for January increased 0.5%, which was a bit sharper than the 0.4% increase that many had come to expect. Core personal consumption expenditures were flat from the prior month, but that was in-line with economists' consensus call.

The ISM Manufacturing Index for February came in at 56.5, which was below both the 57.9 that had been widely expected and below the 58.4 that was posted for the prior month.

Meanwhile, construction spending in January decreased 0.6% month-over-month, as expected.

There was a fair amount of news related to mergers and acquisitions this morning. German drug and chemical company Merck KGaA will acquire Millipore (MIL 104.90, +10.49) for $7.2 billion. Other biotech and life science stocks traded higher in sympathy to help the health care sector climb to a 1.0% gain.

European insurer Prudential PLC (PUK 16.13, -2.37) agreed to buy a pan-Asia insurance business from AIG (AIG 25.78, +1.01) for $35.5 billion in cash and stock. Though support for AIG faded into the close, it was still a leader in the financial sector which finished the session with a 0.4% gain after it failed to follow the broader market higher.

Advancing Sectors: Materials (+1.6%), Consumer Discretionary (+1.6%), Tech (+1.5%), Utilities (+1.3%), Health Care (+1.0%), Industrials (+1.0%), Energy (+1.0%), Consumer Staples (+0.7%), Telecom (+0.6%), Financials (+0.4%)
Declining Sectors: (None)DJ30 +78.53 NASDAQ +35.31 NQ100 +1.5% R2K +2.2% SP400 +1.7% SP500 +11.22 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 2022/2.45 bln/684 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2418/967 mln/633