US Market Commentary (After Market Close): Stocks Fail to Make it Four in a Row

Greece's long-awaited austerity plan wasn't enough for participants to forget about the fiscal troubles that still face the likes of Spain and Portugal. That left the stock market unable to sustain solid, broad-based gains.

Led by the materials sector, stocks made their way to fresh one-month highs. The materials sector had been up as much as 2.0% before it saw that gain cut in half. Still, materials saw the best gain of any major sector as a combination of momentum and a weaker dollar provided it with support.

Weakness in the greenback came as the euro and British pound rebounded from recent losses, which were frequently attributed to the fiscal woes that face the likes of Greece, Portugal, and Spain.

Greece attempted to quell concern over its fiscal health with the release of a new austerity plan that includes civil service salary cuts and a sales tax increase. Despite such plans, problems persist for Portugal and Spain. That reality caused Europe's major bourses to show little initial reaction to Greece's plans, but the continent's major averages gradually pushed higher to log strong gains.

U.S. equities were unable to mimic the move. The Dow, Nasdaq Composite, and S&P 500 each added modestly to the previous session's gains, but eventually rolled over. That ended the stock market's streak of gains at three.

The afternoon slide left the S&P 500 below the 1125 line, which many traders believe could act as a springboard for further gains if the stock market closes above it.

Economic data received little attention this session. That's essentially because participants remain cautious ahead of the official nonfarm payrolls number on Friday. Cautious trade also led to light trading volume, which failed to surpass 1 billion shares on the NYSE.

A glimpse into the payrolls report was given with the February ADP Employment Change Report, which indicated that 20,000 private payrolls were shed last month. The number was in-line with expectations and the smallest decline in one year.

Meanwhile, the ISM Services Index for February came in at 53.0, which was above the reading of 51.0 that had been widely expected and marked the highest reading since October 2007.

The Fed's Beige Book, which is largely full of anecdotal economic news, came with little surprise. It indicated that nine of the 12 Fed districts reported modest improvement in economic activity during February, while consumer spending improved slightly in many districts.

Commodities had a strong session that pushed the CRB Commodity Index back above its 50-day moving average. Oil futures prices closed 1.5% higher at $80.87 per barrel, despite a larger-than-expected weekly inventory build of 4.03 million barrels. Silver had another strong session and closed with a 1.6% gain at $17.33 per ounce.