What it means for markets that the Fed wants to raise interest in March

February's employment report is about the only thing that stands between the Fed and a March rate hike.

For that reason, the monthly jobs report, as usual, is the big event for markets in the week ahead. Economists expect 190,000 jobs and an unchanged unemployment rate of 4.7 percent, according to Thomson Reuters. They expect average hourly earnings to rise 0.3 percent, after a disappointing 0.1 percent last month.

The oil market could also be a source of interest in the week ahead as traders watch comments from major OPEC figures and other producers attending the annual weeklong CERAWeek Conference. Traders are watching to see if OPEC and non-OPEC producers like Russia will comment about whether they plan to extend the production deal that has been supporting oil prices above $50 a barrel.

Stocks ended the past week with gains, and Treasury yields zipped higher, as a parade of Fed officials spoke on a daily basis about the possibility of a Fed interest rate hike in March. Fed Chair Janet Yellen Friday was also strident, saying the Fed could hike rates in March as long as the economy continues to grow.

The rate hike, expected at the two-day meeting March 14 and 15, would be the third in about 10 years, as the Fed has slowly pulled away from its strategy of holding rates at zero while the economy healed.

"What's remarkable is this time last week, we were wondering if March was even remotely on the table. To go from wondering if it's on the table to a near certainty is almost unprecedented," said Julian Emanuel, equity and derivative strategist with UBS.

Washington will continue to be a focus in the week ahead, as investors watch to see if there's any progress made toward market-friendly policies like taxes or fiscal stimulus. The replacement of Obamacare is also a factor since it is viewed as a necessary step before Congress will focus on tax reform.

But Jim Paulsen, chief investment strategist at Wells Capital Management, said way too much focus is being put on President Donald Trump's policies. "I think there's too much pessimism about Trump's policy," he said, explaining investors think if the president doesn't follow through on a big tax reform package the market will fall apart.

Scott Redler, partner with T3Live.com, follows the market's short-term technical moves, and he said stocks made important inroads in the past week, pointing to the S&P 500 breaking the key 2,400 level and the Dow rising above 21,000. The S&P ended the week below that level at 2,383, still up 0.7 percent, and the Dow was up 0.9 percent at 21,005.

"The market does have a bit of an exhaustive feel. I think even the bulls would like a correction at this point."

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