MarketView for March 21

Summary 

The major equity indexes were mostly lower on Wednesday, weighed down by the energy services sector. However, gains in technology shares buoyed the Nasdaq and helped keep the S&P 500 near four-year highs. The benchmark S&P 500 index, up 11.6 percent so far this quarter, found buyers at the 1,400 level, which has held at that level for five straight days. The support suggests more gains in coming weeks.

The technology sector rose again, with the Nasdaq 100 technology index up 0.4 percent for the day and up close to 18 percent this year. It helped the broader Nasdaq Composite edge up for the day.

The recent positive economic data of recent weeks has fueled the market's surge, and pullbacks have been brief. Since a three-day decline two weeks ago, the S&P 500 has not lost more than 0.3 percent in one session.

The PHLX Oil Services index fell 1.9 percent after Baker Hughes said it expects first-quarter profit margins to fall sharply. Its stock fell 5.8 percent to $45.04, its lowest close since mid-December.

In a report on Wednesday, Goldman Sachs said the prospects for future returns in equities relative to bonds are as good as they have been in a generation.

"Given current valuations, we think it's time to say a 'long good bye' to bonds, and embrace the 'long good buy' for equities as we expect them to embark on an upward trend over the next few years," Goldman Sachs said.

Hewlett-Packard said it was merging its printer and PC businesses in a major reorganization to save costs and boost growth. The stock, a Dow component, fell 2.2 percent, closing at $23.46.

Oracle fell 2.3 percent to $29.41 after climbing to a session high at $31.15 earlier. The company exceeded Wall Street's earnings estimates as a sharp drop in hardware revenue was offset by new software sales.

The Nasdaq received a bit of traction from Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, whose shares were up 10 percent to $55.79 after the company said it will carry Starbucks-branded coffee in packs designed for its new line of brewers, adding to the company’s efforts to protect its lead in the single-cup coffee market.

Earlier, data showed home sales fell in February, but upward revisions to January's pace and the first yearly increase in prices in 15 months suggested the recovery in the housing market remained on track.

Volume was low on Wednesday, with just over 6 billion shares changing hands on the three major equity exchanges, as compared with a 6.87 billion share daily average so far this year.

Meanwhile, the market's recovery started last October as investors saw ways to avoid a worst-case scenario in the European debt crisis that threatened the global economic recovery. Now analysts see a shift in investor sentiment that could translate into more market gains.