By Greg Peel

The Dow closed up 48 points, or 0.3%, while the S&P gained 0.6% to 1563 and the Nasdaq added 0.6%.

And they're off. Aluminium producer and Dow component Alcoa kicked off the US March quarter earnings season last night after the closing bell, releasing a mixed result. The company beat expectations on earnings, but missed slightly on revenue, which has been a common theme for US corporations since, well, 2009.

The Alcoa result is nevertheless no longer considered a leading indicator for results in general and we'll have a lull in highlight terms until Friday when the more indicative banking sector begins to roll out the numbers. JP Morgan (Dow) and Wells Fargo will be the first off the rank. Expectations for net S&P 500 earnings growth for the quarter currently sit at a timid 1.6%, down from a 4.3%