Stocks advance for 4th day

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — U.S. stocks advanced for a fourth straight session Monday, but the gains were modest as investors remained cautious and continued to focus on global developments.

The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) rose 47 points, or 0.4%. The blue chip index’s best performers included AT&T (T, Fortune 500) and Verizon (VZ, Fortune 500). Both telecom giants were upgraded to “outperform” by Robert W. Baird. Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500) also led the Dow higher.

The S&P 500 (SPX) added 5 points, or 0.4%, and the Nasdaq (COMP) increased 9 points, or 0.3%. First Solar (FSLR), Netflix (NFLX) and Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) were among the best performers on both indexes.

All three indexes managed to head higher last week, as investors turned their attention to strong corporate earnings and shrugged off geopolitical concerns. The Dow gained more than 3%, the S&P 500 gained 2.7% and the Nasdaq surged 3.8%.

Stocks have been on a roller coaster ride the last several weeks amid ongoing concerns about Japan’s nuclear crisis, along with continuing unrest in the Middle East and the civil war in Libya.

“Investors are still on the nervous side, so you’re not seeing a whole lot of enthusiasm,” said Steven Goldman, market strategist at Weeden & Co. “But we still think stocks are attractive and poised to go higher.”

For the month, the market is flat, but stocks are on track to end the first quarter of the year with gains. Since the start of the year, the Dow and S&P 500 are up about 5%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq is up more than 3%.

Goldman added that stocks have been supported by improvement in the U.S. economy, with the latest data pointing to a steady recovery, which has helped bolster investor confidence.

At the end of the week, the government will release the latest snapshot of job market. Friday’s monthly hiring and unemployment report from the U.S. Labor Department is expected to show that the economy added 185,000 jobs in March, and the unemployment rate remained steady at 8.9%, according to economists surveyed by Briefing.com.

Economy: The Commerce Department reported that spending by individuals increased 0.7% in February, topping a forecasted 0.5% rise. Personal incomes rose 0.3% in the month, matching expectations.

The National Association of Realtors said pending home sales rose 2.1% in January. Economists were expecting sales to edge up 0.3%, according to economists surveyed by Briefing.com.

World markets: European stocks were higher in later afternoon trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 edged up 0.4%, the DAX in Germany rose 0.1% and France’s CAC 40 increased 0.3%.

Asian markets ended mixed. The Shanghai Composite added 0.2% and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong gained 0.4%, while Japan’s Nikkei slid 0.6%.

Companies: Shares of Eastman Kodak (EK, Fortune 500) jumped 12% after a federal agency said Friday that it would review the company’s patent-infringement claim against Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) and BlackBerry maker Research in Motion (RIMM).

Shares of Marriott International (MAR, Fortune 500) slumped almost 6% after the company warned that its revenue per available room for the first quarter of the year will come in at the low end of its initial guidance. The company added that the figure has been lower than expected in North American market, especially in large markets like New York, Atlanta, Orlando and Washington, D.C.

Currencies and commodities: The dollar fell slightly against the euro, but moved higher versus the Japanese yen and the British pound.

Oil for May delivery slipped $1.00 to $104.40 a barrel.

Gold futures for April delivery fell $7.70 to $1,418.60 an ounce.

Bonds: The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury fell, pushing the yield up to 3.46% from 3.44% late Friday.  

First Published: March 28, 2011: 9:41 AM ET