Shares on Wall Street were largely mixed at the closing bell on Friday. The Dow Jones (0.08 percent, 9.15 points) and the S&P 500 (0.07 percent, 0.86 points) each finished the day in the black, but the NASDAQ (0.10 percent, 2.28 points) dropped during the day.

After taking time to mull over the lackluster performance to end the week, investors have returned in earnest during the morning session Monday. Daily trading is up in the U.S. and around the world, and experts predict a bullish approach to prevail throughout the day.

According to Bloomberg News, the uptick on Wall Street has been driven by strong showings on commodities markets and a summary weakening of the dollar.

According to CNNMoney.com, despite a rosy outlook today this week will play a pivotal role in shaping our investment outlook for the rest of the year. The first fiscal quarter of 2010 has been good to the U.S. economy, and to investment markets in particular, but the looming obstacle of unemployment remains.

The monthly jobs report, due later this week, is expected to show roughly 190,000 new jobs created in the month of March, but unemployment will likely remain near 9.7 percent. Until the unemployment is dealt with it will act as a major roadblock to recovery, regardless of what direction corporate profits or stock markets are trending.

In other news, domestic consumer spending in the United States increased in February by 0.3 percent. This marks the fifth consecutive month in which spending increased; a sign that some Americans are beginning to feel a recovery. Retailers were able to rake in solid profits last month even as foreclosures continued to mount and joblessness remained a problem throughout the American economy. With consumer spending accounting for roughly 70 percent of the overall economy expansion in that sector is crucial to driving a recovery.

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