US stocks finishes with strong weekly gains after better than expected data fueled hopes of economic recovery.

For the week, Dow was up 497.8 points or 6.83%. S&P rose 47.4 points or 6.17%, while Nasdaq Composite settled with a weekly gain of 87.93 points or 6%.

Stocks got a big boost this week as US economic data showed signs of economic recovery. According to a Commerce Department release on Friday, US consumer spending, which accounts for nearly two third of economy, rose 0.2% in February. Personal Income declined 0.2% in February. According to a survey released by the University of Michigan/Reuters consumer sentiment index rose to 57.3 in late March from 56.3 in February. On Thursday, Commerce Department said that US GDP shrank at a 6.3% annualized seasonally adjusted rate. Economists expected the economy to contract at an annualized rate of 6.6%. A release by Department of Labor showed that the number of Americans filing first- time claims for unemployment benefits increased 8,000 to 652,000 in the week ending March 21. According to Department of Commerce, orders for durable goods unexpectedly rose 3.4% in February. Housing data too pointed towards a bottom in the market. The Commerce Department said that new home sales climbed 4.7% in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 337,000 from an upwardly revised January figure of 322,000. Also, National Association of Realtors said that existing home sales rose 5.1% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.72 million units, from a rate of 4.49 million in the prior month. Economists had expected a reading of 4.45 million.

U.S. Treasury on Monday unveiled the details about the government's latest plan to help rid banks of troubled assets clogging banks' balance sheets. The program will use $75 billion to $100 billion in capital from the troubled asset relief program, or TARP, and capital from private investors.

In a testimony delivered on Tuesday before the House Financial Services Committee Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke asked for more power to prevent an AIG like situation in future. The two officials also called for greater regulation of financial firms.

On the earnings front, Jabil Circuit Inc. (NYSE: JBL), KB Home (NYSE: KBH) and Dr Pepper Snapple Group (NYSE: DPS) posted quarterly losses while ConAgra Foods Inc.(NYSE: CAG) , Tiffany & Co. (NYSE: TIF),Walgreen Co. (NYSE: WAG) and Red Hat Inc. (NYSE: RHT) reported a fall in their profits. Accenture Ltd. (NYSE: ACN) and TIBCO Software Inc. (NASDAQ: TIBX) registered a marginal rise in their net income.

Early on Thursday, Best Buy Co. (NYSE: BBY) reported better than expected fourth-quarter results. Net income totaled $570 million, or $1.35 a share, compared to $737 million, or $1.71, in the same quarter a year ago.  On an adjusted basis, the company earned $1.61 a share, beating the consensus estimates of $1.40 a share. Revenue increased to $14.7 billion from $13.4 billion.


Looking ahead to next week, companies like Lennar (NYSE: LEN), Apollo Group (NASDAQ: APOL), Monsanto (NYSE: MON), Rite Aid (NYSE: RAD), Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM) are scheduled to report their quarterly results.

Meanwhile, the busy economic calendar begins with March's  Consumer Confidence data and January's S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index at 09:00 am ET Tuesday. ADP employment report, construction spending, ISM index, Pending home sales and auto sales are due for release on Wednesday. Thursday will see the release of weekly initial claims and factory orders for the month of February. Payrolls data and unemplyment rate data for the month of March will be reported Friday.

Meanwhile, the leaders of the world’s 20 major economies will gather in London on April 2 for the G-20 London Summit to address the global financial crisis. They are expected to propse tougher regulations for financial institutions.