Weekly Recap - Week ending 04-Mar-11The S&P 500 ended the week flat after a sharp fall Tuesday was offset by a sharp increase Thursday. Oil prices hit two year highs on the continued turmoil in Libya and the Middle East, while gold hit a record high. U.S. economic data continues to paint a picture of recovery as private employers hired more than 200,000 people in February.

Most of the sectors settled in a tight range near the unchanged mark. Health care was the top gainer, up 2.4%, while financials acted as the main drag with a loss of 1.6%.

In corporate news, heavyweight Apple (AAPL) rose 3.0% as the company unveiled its new iPad.

In economic news, the employment situation continues to slowly improve. Private employers added 222,000 jobs in February, topping expectations and more than enough to offset a decline in public payrolls, with overall payrolls increasing 190,000. The unemployment rate unexpectedly ticked down to 8.9% from 9.0%.

In economic news, the ISM Service index rose to 59.7, the highest level since 2005. On a related note, the ISM manufacturing Index hit a multi-year high of 61.4, exceeding the Briefing.com consensus of 60.5.

Fed Chairman Bernanke delivered his semi-annual policy report to lawmakers. He was optimistic about the economic outlook but made no real revelations.

Meanwhile, unrest in the Middle East continues to stir up the commodity market. Oil prices rallied 7.3% hitting a multi-year high of $105.17 per barrel. Gold increased 1.6% to an all-time nominal high of $1441 per ounce.

The Treasury market and the dollar also saw volatility but essentially ended the week flat. The dollar saw some weakness after ECB President