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STOCKS CLIMB: Here's What You Need To Know (DIA, SPY, SPX, QQQ)

Stocks made a modest move higher to round out the week.

First, the scoreboard:

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<li>Dow: 16,323.0 (+58.8, +0.3%)</li>

<li>S&P 500: 1,857.6 (+8.5, +0.4%)</li>

<li>Nasdaq: 4,155.7, (+4.5, +0.1%)</li>

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And now the top stories:

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<li>It was a pretty slow news day. And the scheduled economic reports were basically right in line with expectations.</li>

<li>Personal income and spending each climbed by 0.3% month over month in February, which was exactly what economists were expecting. February's core PCE - the Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation - rose 0.1% month over month, or 1.1% year over year.</li>

<li>The University of Michigan's consumer confidence index fell to 80.0 in March from 81.6 in February. <span>"37% of respondents reported that their financial situation was better compared with a year ago, which was the same percentage that reported it was worse; still, more than twice as many consumers (33%) expected an improving financial situation in the coming year than expected a worse one (16%)," noted Barclays' Cooper Howes. "<span>Only 15% of respondents expected unemployment to decline in the coming year, the softest reading since 2011; that said, the unemployment rate has fallen 3.3 percentage points since its peak even though no more than 30% of consumers have expected declines at any point during that time.</span>"</span></li>

<li>Don't Miss: 17 Mind-Blowing Facts About Russia &raquo; </li>

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