Markets

Since hitting bottom one year ago each index has rallied more than 50 percent, but the long-term trend does not necessarily mean we will see more rallies throughout trading today.

Stocks ended the week with a bang at the Friday closing bell. The NASDAQ led the charge with a 1.48 percent (34.04 points) gain, followed closely by the S&P 500 (1.40 percent, 15.72 points). The Dow Jones Industrial Average tagged along further behind, but it still gained 1.16 percent (122.06 points) on the day.

Analysts expect a higher open this morning as markets rebound from an up and down week. According to Reuters, AIG has agreed to shed its Asian life insurance branch for $35.5 billion to Great Britain’s Prudential.

According to CNNMoney.com, domestic stocks will struggle with worse-than-expected figures from AIG weighed against improving GDP growth from the fourth quarter of last year.

Stocks plunged at the opening bell Thursday after overnight futures stalled and overseas markets posted overall losses.