Basic Materials and Energy sectors returned to a leadership role today as the stock market looked to bounce from its recent doldrums. Both sectors advanced about 2%. However, it is Healthcare that has remained consistently strong. And in fact, it is Healthcare that has maintained a steadily strong score in Sabrient’s quantitative SectorCast model.

Although trading volume remains anemic, with NYSE volume below 900 million today, equity bulls continue to run the show as the global “wall of worry” seems to suit them just fine, thank you.

Bulls continue to shake off global challenges to keep the market in rally mode heading into the end of the first quarter, led by powerhouse sectors Basic Materials and Energy as well as Healthcare and upstart Telecom. In fact, the S&P 500 is on track to achieve its largest first quarter return since 1998. The SPY closed today at 132.77, up 5.6% on the quarter with one more trading day to go.

Bulls on Wall Street continue to call the shots and have their way. Bears who dare try to venture out of hibernation are smacked back into the cave before they’ve barely seen the light of day. The unshakably bullish action and buy-the-dip mentality has many market observers wondering if it can be sustained, given the struggling economy, moribund housing market, rising food and energy prices, skyrocketing deficit, and persistent unemployment.

The market reeked of late-day manipulation today as a last-minute push managed to get the Dow back into positive territory, but the S&P500 and Nasdaq couldn’t quite make it. The bulls have staked out their claim and won’t allow anyone to spoil their party...and they have powerful friends.

The past few days have given us a wild ride in the markets, thanks primarily to unrest in the Middle East. After this extended run since December 1, I have been waiting for the market to decide between either pulling back to consolidate gains and find a strong support point from which to launch on a renewed bullish run ... losing critical support and turning bearish.

This market sees nothing but rainbows and butterflies ahead. No worries, no fears. Although backing and filling is a necessary aspect of a healthy bull market, history shows that it can go on for awhile without. Now that the Dow has touched 12,000 and the S&P 500 came within a whisker of 1300, perhaps the bulls will be ready for a much-needed respite.

This week brings a clean slate among stock traders as the holidays and end-of-year positioning has come to an end. The market continues to show signs that it wants to pull back a bit to work off its overbought condition and allow technical indicators like RSI and MACD to cycle back down in their normal swings. But the cash just keeps flowing in.