US stocks finished with strong weekly gains as investors snapped up shares of banks after chief executives of Citigroup, JP Morgan and Bank of America said that their banks were profitable in January and February.

For the week, Dow was up 435.59 points or 9.01%. S&P rose 73.17 points or 10.71%, while Nasdaq Composite settled with a weekly gain of 137.65 points or 10.64%.

Investors sifted through a number of mixed economic data. The Reuters/University of Michigan Survey showed consumers' preliminary March consumer sentiment index climbed to 56.6 from February's final reading of 56.3.According to US Commerce Department, retail sales dropped 0.1% to $375.5 billion in February from prior month. Economists expected a decline of 0.5%. The Commerce Department said that wholesale inventories declined 0.7% in January, compared to consensus estimate of 1%. Job market showed no signs of improvement. A release by Department of Labor showed that number of Americans filing first- time claims for unemployment benefits rose by 9,000 to 654,00 in the week ending March 7.

Shares of financials surged after chief executives of Citigroup (NYSE: C), Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) and JP Morgan (NYSE: JPM) assured investors that their banks were profitable in the first two months of this year.

Stocks also rallied on hopes that uptick rule could be reinstated within a month. Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), chairman of the House Financial Services committee, said on Tuesday that the SEC should restore the so-called "uptick" rule within a month

Healthcare stocks got a boost from heightened M&A activity in pharma space. On Monday, Merck & Co. (NYSE: MRK) announced that is buying Schering-Plough Corp. (NYSE: SGP) for $41.1 billion in stock and cash in a deal aimed at enhancing its market presence by expanding its product base. Swiss pharmaceutical major Roche said on Thursday that it has agreed to buy California-based Genentech's (NYSE: DNA) 44% stake, that it doesn't already own, for $46.8 billion or $95 per share. Shares of Genetech rose $1.75 or 1.90% to $93.92. Also, Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD) said on Thursday that it will acquire CV Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: CVTX) for $20 a share in a deal valued at $1.4 billion. Adding to the positive tone was Pfizer Inc's (NYSE: PFE) announcement that it has ended a successful trial of its cancer drug Sutent early, after study showed that the drug effectively slowed the progression of advanced pancreatic cancer.

Chemical giant Dow Chemical Co. (NYSE: DOW) reached a new agreement with Rohm and Haas Co. (NYSE: ROH) to complete its acquisition by April 1.

Shares of diversified US firm, General Electric (NYSE: GE) soared after Standard & Poor's lowered its long-term ratings on the diversified firm and its units, by one notch to AA+ from top tier AAA and raised its outlook to stable.

Meanwhile, Fitch Ratings downgraded the issuer default rating of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK-A) to AA+ from AA, with a negative outlook.

On the earnings front, Aeropostale (NYSE: ARO), Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR) and Casey's General Stores (NASDAQ: CASY) reported increase in their quarterly profits while Pacific Sunwear of California Inc. (NASDAQ: PSUN), J. Crew Group (NYSE: JCG) and Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. (NASDAQ: TTWO) posted quarterly loss.

Looking ahead, the week will kick off with the release of industrial production and capacity utilization data for the month of February. February's producer price index, building permits and housing starts data are due for release on Tuesday.  Investors would be especially awaiting consumer price index data for the month of February, scheduled for release on Wednesday. Weekly initial claims and leading indicators for the month of February will be reported Thursday.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Financial Accounting Standards Board is scheduled to discuss mark-to-market guidance at its board meeting on Monday. Any changes on the front of mark to market rule may spark a rally in financial stocks.

Earnings reporting season slows markedly in the coming week.  FedEx (NYSE: FDX), General Mills (NYSE: GIS), Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL), and Nike (NYSE: NKE) are some of the companies scheduled to report their quarterly earnings.
 
Disclosure: Author does not own any of the stocks discussed here.