BIG JUMP: The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said its index of manufacturing in the mid-Atlantic region nearly doubled between January and February, helping to push the broad stock market higher.
JOBS SLUMP: The Labor Department said that applications for unemployment benefits rose 25,000 from the previous week, a bigger bump than economists had expected.
THE INDEXES: The Dow Jones industrial average rose 30 points to 12,318.The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 4 to 1,340. The Nasdaq composite rose 6 to 2,831.
