NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - After more or less zipping along between March 2003 and early January 2004, the market of late has been limping. By the second half of the year, it's bound to regain its stride, analysts say, but short term, the prognosis is not so good.

To put it in perspective, "It's like a person who has been gorging from Thanksgiving through Christmas and now they're stuffed and hung over," said Barry Ritholtz, a market strategist at Maxim Group.

Between what many see as the 2003 market bottom, March 11, and Dec. 10, the Nasdaq went from 1,271.47 to 1,904.65.

That's an impressive gain and it helped the U.S. stock market close 2003 with across-the-board gains for the first year in four.

But the pace of that rally seems reasonable compared to the end-of-rally spurt that followed, analysts say. Between Dec. 10 and Jan. 26, the Nasdaq surged from 1,904.65 to 2,153.83.

"When you see a 250-point spurt like that in less than two months, that's not sustainable." Ritholtz said. "What this pullback is doing, and I think will continue to do, is bring us back to a more sustainable level."

The pullback in question has kept the Nasdaq falling for six consecutive weeks and has seen the Dow and S&P 500 manage to carve out new 32-month highs, only to edge right back, unable to break through the resistance.

During this period, it's been less about a zest to sell, analysts said, and more about a diminished interest in buying. That has been reflected in the lower trading volume over the last month.

However, some money has been coming out of a number of last year's high-tech gainers. Instead, it has moved into sectors such as household products, consumer staples and other so-called safe havens, analysts say, as investors look for stocks and sectors that they believe have more upside potential.

January managed a higher close across the board for the major indexes, due to its early month run, but a muddy, choppy February has ended in more mixed territory.

February marked the S&P's fifth consecutive month of gains, and the Dow's third consecutive month of gains. For the Nasdaq, it was the first downer month in five.

"Optimism remains, and the conditions supporting stock gains through the end of the year are still good," said John Hughes, a market analyst at MKM Partners. "The economy continues to recover and the interest rate environment is still good, but I have to think that March could be a challenging month."

Over the last 33 years, March, on average, has produced gains of around 1 percent for the Dow industrials and the S&P 500, according to the Stock Trader's Almanac. For the Nasdaq, during an election year, March is typically the composite's worst month, with average gains of 0.4 percent over 33 years, according to Almanac figures.

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"My sense is we continue to see this correction over the next few weeks, but I think once we get through this period and some of the March data starts to come out, stocks will move higher," said Michael Sheldon, chief market strategist at Spencer Clarke.

Recent reports on consumer confidence and sentiment show that the prolonged period of stagnation in the labor market has begun to weigh on investors' sense of optimism. Because of this, the coming week's February jobs report will be the week's most relevant.

• Monday, the Commerce Department releases figures on personal income and spending for January. Economists surveyed by Reuters expect that income rose 0.5 percent after gaining 0.2 percent in the previous month. Spending is expected to have risen 0.4 percent, the same as it did the previous month.
• Also Monday, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) releases its manufacturing index for February, which is expected to fall to 62.0 from 63.6 in January.
• Wednesday, the ISM's report on the services sector of the economy, is due. Economists polled by Reuters think the February index fell to 63.0 from 65.7 in January.
• Also Wednesday, the Federal Reserve releases its latest "beige book" report, a periodic look at economic conditions supplied by 12 regional Fed banks around the country.
• On Thursday, the government's January report on factory orders for new U.S. goods is expected to show a gain of 1 percent, according to Reuters estimates, after rising 1.1 percent in December.
• On Friday, the government releases its figures on payrolls and unemployment in February. Economists surveyed by Reuters expect that employers added 125,000 new jobs in the month after adding 112,000 jobs in January. The unemployment rate is forecast to hold steady at 5.6 percent.