By Kate Gibson

As stocks climbed toward their first two-week stretch of gains in nearly 11 months, equity analysts said the recent run higher bodes well for the remainder of March, yet the dicey economic climate still weighs heavily on the market.

"The latest relief rally was sparked by lots of good news for a refreshing change, which I believe may have some staying power," said Ed Yardeni, president and chief investment strategist, Yardeni Research Inc.

Up 2.5% for the week and 4.8% so far for the month at Thursday's close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average on Friday gained 32.25 points to 7,433.05. The blue-chip index is on track for its first two consecutive weeks of gains since the week ending May 2, 2008, when it rose three weeks straight.

Utilities, telecommunication services and consumer staples led sector gains Friday, while financials, energy and consumer discretionary shares fronted the losses on the S&P 500 Index , which in early afternoon trade inched fractionally lower to 783.78. The technology-laden Nasdaq Composite (RIXF) fell 1.17 points to 1,482.31

"We believe the current rally has some limited room to run into the end of the quarter, as money managers who have been underweight equities look to lock in their outperformance," said Nicolas Colas, chief market strategist, BNY ConvergEx.

A portion of this week's likely gains came on Wednesday, when stocks restarted the prior session's rally after the Federal Reserve's surprising announcement that it would buy $300 billion in longer-term Treasurys to help the ailing economy.

"We think the Fed has put a floor under financial system confidence and therefore stock prices. If a trillion dollars of stimulus cannot buy the economy some meaningful relief, we have much, much bigger problems. If that is the case, we will know in the second quarter," said Colas.

Less optimistic on a continued run higher in the immediate future, Nick Kalvas, equity analyst at MF Global Research, said the market tends to trade lower post March expiration. Plus, "credit remains a negative despite the Fed's action," said Kalvas.

Earnings, Geithner on Tap

Conversely, "the market may not want to be too short with Treasury Secretary Geithner ripe to supply a plan to heal the financial sector," said Kalvas of expectations the Treasury secretary would outline help for the financial system on Thursday.

"Many are looking for a strong plan to address toxic assets to be announced with leaks in the days before the speech," said Kalvas.

Colas expressed concern that the earnings season would not bring "any real information about the post-liquidity bubble earnings power of the U.S. economy," calling it the central issue for equities. "The market is only truly cheap if corporate earnings can show modest improvement through 2009," he said of hopes that stock prices have largely bottomed out.

"The stock market is still dealing with the uncertainty question. This uncertainty centers on the longer-term health of the economy and the outlook for corporate earnings," said Robert Pavlik, chief market strategist, Banyan Partners LLC.

Next week brings earnings from upscale jewelry Tiffany & Co. (TIF) and drugstore chain Walgreen Co. (WAG) on Monday, followed by Commercial Metals Co. , Carnival Corp. (CCL) and Jabil Circuit Inc. (JBL) on Tuesday.

"While the uncertainty has kept many investors on the sideline throughout this recent two week rally we have maintained our cautious optimism that stocks will recover during the second half of this year or early into 2010," said Pavlik.