Nebraska players react seconds after the NCAA Selection Show announced ther teams spot in the NCAA tournament bracket on March 16, 2014. (Photo: Morgan Spiehs, AP)

It’s not just NCAA hoops players who have to deal with March Madness. Wall Street does too, as March has a reputation for maddening market mood swings, with the Nasdaq composite topping out in March 2000 and hitting a bear market bottom in March 2009.

So, with the Nasdaq topping the 5000 milestone for the first time in 15 years and flirting with its March 2000 record close of 5048.62, what will move the markets up and down this month?

In general, March is the fifth-best performance month for the tech-packed Nasdaq. The average gain of 0.8% is less than the 1%-plus gains delivered by the Dow Jones industrial average and Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index in March. The Nasdaq’s best March ever was in 2009 when it gained 10.9% at the start of the six-year-old bull.

Here are few key dates and potential market-moving events that could result in either a score for investors — or foul up their portfolios after very strong stock market performance in February:

March 6: February jobs report

Markets are looking for another robust jobs report, and bump up in (worker) wages, as a sign that the U.S. economy has escaped deflation and subpar growth of the past few years, says Joe Quinlan, chief market strategist at U.S. Trust.

The U.S. job-creation machine kicked off 2015 with robust gains. The economy produced a better-than-expected 257,000 new jobs in January, and the government also revised upwards job gains in the prior two months by 147,000.

Another strong jobs report, Quinlan says, will underpin consumer confidence and spending going forward. It will also cement market expectations that the Federal Reserve, indeed, is going to raise interest rates later this year.

While fears of coming rate hikes could cause some market volatility, Wall Street will likely grind through it, Quinlan predicts. The early stages of a Fed tightening cycle are bullish for equities. Why? Because growth is usually accelerating and profits remain strong, he says.

Adds Tom Lee, managing partner at Fundstrat Global Advisors: Labor markets have been solid, so continued momentum would be an affirmation of the consumer story. Moreover, with oil prices in decline and rig counts falling, investors worry about the fallout on labor markets — this is overstated, in general, since total jobs created in the energy sector the past six years is only 300,000.

March 9: Apple’s media confab

The iPhone maker sent out an invite to media members for a March 9 event it is dubbing Spring Forward. Apple is the world’s most valuable company and a major mover of indexes like the Nasdaq composite and S&P 500. While details are scant, there isspeculation that Apple will announce Apple Watch rollout dates and pricing.

As Apple goes, so goes the Nasdaq, says Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott.

Apple shares have gone vertical recently, and Luschini says the stock is due for a pullback, which could weigh on the broader market.

It might dent the Nasdaq a bit, he says, adding that ultimately (Apple and the Nasdaq) both go higher as the tech sector is not egregiously valued and the Nasdaq isn’t wildly overpriced today.

March 10: 15th anniversary of Nasdaq all-time high

It’s been 15 years since the Nasdaq’s irrationally exuberant run to its record close of 5048.62 on March 10, 2000.

Nasdaq’s 15-year anniversary is an important benchmark, says Sung Won Sohn, an economics professor at California State University-Channel Islands. Psychologically, it reinforces the view that the bull market is here to stay a while longer.

March 17–18: Fed rate decision and press conference

The Fed meeting and (chair Janet) Yellen’s press conference are the most important events of March, says Sohn.

Investors will be watching to see if the central bank removes the term patient from its policy statement.

If they do, there is a good chance that short-term interest rates will be raised starting in June, Sohn says. If not, it will be either July or September.

Like Quinlan, Sohn doesn’t see the start of interest rate hikes necessarily derail(ing) the ongoing stock market rally.

March: ECB kickoff of sovereign QE

March is the month the European Central Bank kicks off its government bond-buying program, or quantitative easing (QE). The goal: To fight off dangerously low inflation and boost the lagging eurozone economy.

The move could prove bullish for global stock markets, says Quinlan.

With some green shoots of growth sprouting in Europe, QE could coincide with an improving macro-economic backdrop in Europe, boosting confidence and growth in a key part of the world, he says.

Predicting the next market move, however, is no slam dunk.