DOW - Will the Bulls make this time?

Dow

12,350.61

+71.60

+0.58%

By: Abby Schultz, JeeYeon Park

Stocks got closer to their highs of the year as the broad market turned positive for the month and was on track to post the best quarter of the year, although volumes remained thin amid geopolitical uncertainty

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 71.60 points, or 0.6 percent, to close at 12,350.61, after closing higher in the previous session, and rising eight of the last 10 sessions. The blue-chip index is nearing a 2-1/2 year high (the Dow closed at 12,391 on Feb. 18), and is up more than 1 percent for March.
 
The S&P 500 rose 8.82 points, or 0.7 percent, to close at 1,328.26. Today's move put the broad market index into positive territory for March, up 0.08 percent.


The Nasdaq rose 19.90 points, or 0.7 percent, to close at 2,776.79, remaining slightly negative for the month, down 0.2 percent.

The CBOE Volatility Index, widely considered the best gauge of fear in the market, fell below 18.