Play-it-safe stock investors may take some risk on

Play-it-safe stock investors may take some risk on jobs
First quarter ends with a fizzle as investors sell high-flyers; jobs report ahead

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — For stock investors, the first quarter was a mild drag as investors played it safe in defensive sectors. Next week’s news, highlighted by the March jobs report, promises more fireworks.

But for real gains, such as the type that lift benchmarks to new highs, investors have to get brave again. Cyclicals like industrial stocks need to outperform defensives, much like they did in 2013.

“If stocks go higher, they’re going to have to be on the back of cyclicals,” said Dan Greenhaus, chief global strategist at BTIG.

Stocks ended Friday with session gains but, except for the blue chips, losses for the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJI JIA) rose 0.1% for the week, while the S&P 500 Index (SNC:SPX) shed 0.5%, and the Nasdaq Composite Index (NASDAQ:COMP) suffered its worst weekly loss since October 2012, dropping 2.8%.

Heading into the end of the first-quarter on Monday, the Dow industrials are down 1.5% and the Nasdaq is off 0.5%. Only the S&P 500 is showing a gain, of 0.5% to 1,857.62, about 1% off its March 7 closing high of 1,878.04. After that anemic performance, investors are hoping first-quarter malaise was all about bad weather that garbled economic data.

As a result, investors have taken a defensive posture. The best performing S&P 500 sectors have been utilities and health-care stocks with gains of 7.8% and 4.9%, respectively. While telecom stocks are down 0.9% for the quarter, they’ve been the best performers in March with a 4.5% gain. http://www.marketwatch.com/story/play-it-safe...2014-03-30