CLOSING BELL

Dow 10567.33  +2.95, Nasdaq 2358.95  +18.27, S&P 1145.61  +5.16 

Financials and Tech lead the market today as traders had little news to inspire them.  The markets started the day to the plus side but by late morning they were trading to the downside before closing higher.

Citigroup (C) 3.95 +0.13, +3.40% was higher as traders reacted positively to its $2 billion trust preferred offering and positive comments from renowned analyst Dick Bove.

Additionally, financial analyst Meredith Whitney had positive comments on Visa (V) 91.52 +1.37, +1.52% and MasterCard (MA)  249.60 +3.12, +1.27%.

In financials regional banks posted the best gains, they were up +2.9% followed by diversified banks up +1.8%.

Large cap tech stocks help the Nasdaq hit a 52 week high today.  The Nasdaq has now posted gains eight of the last nine trading days. Additionally the S&P 500 now stand within striking distance of its 52 week high.  The index has had trouble passing the 1050 resistance level.

Wall Street got a look at wholesale inventories for January today.  Inventories unexpectedly fell -0.2%. This could suggest stronger-than-expected demand and the inventory decline can undermine GDP.

Also in economic news today, the Treasury's budget statement for February showed a deficit of $220.9 billion, which was in-line with estimates.

Advancing Sectors: Financials +1.1%, Tech +0.8%, Energy +0.6%, Industrials +0.4%, Consumer Discretionary +0.3%, Health Care +0.1%, Utilities +0.1%

Declining Sectors: Consumer Staples -0.2%, Telecom -0.1%, Materials -0.1%