YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: Sellers sent stocks from a positive start to a sizable loss by midsession, but their efforts eased in the afternoon so that the major averages ended the day with varied results.

Market participants initially appeared prepared to extend the prior session's advance amid renewed strength among overseas markets, but an absence of leadership made for untenable gains in the early going. Once selling started it quickly gained momentum.

Natural resource plays were picked on the most, for a time. The materials sector was down as much as 1.9% as Mosaic (MOS 75.00, -1.25) slid ahead of its earnings announcement this evening. Meanwhile, the energy sector was down 1.5% at its session low. The two sectors successfully trimmed those losses so that they ended the day down 0.5% and 0.6%, respectively.

As an asset class, small-cap stocks and mid-cap stocks were also hit hard, but they never really recovered. In turn, the Russell 2000 settled the day down 1.6% while the S&P 400 closed with a 1.1% loss.

Telecom stocks traded with relative strength for virtually the entire session. They gained 0.9%, collectively. Motorola shares officially broke into a consumer segment, Motorola Mobility (MMI 33.12, +2.88), and a professional segment, Motorola Solutions (MSI 39.77, +2.46), both of which debuted on the NYSE today. A few analysts gave MMI favorable reviews, but the interest in MSI was more tepid.

Automakers encountered mixed interest. For December, Ford (F 17.38, +0.13) reported that retail sales increased 17% from the prior year. General Motors (GM 37.90, +0.84) said that it saw total December sales climb 16% from the year before. Meanwhile, Toyota Motor (TM 79.86, +0.43) reported that its sales for December actually decreased by 2% year over year. Honda Motor (HMC 39.60, -0.42) said that its vehicle sales for December saw an increase of almost 26%. Nissan Motor (NSANY 19.76, +0.61) reported a 28% increase in U.S. sales during December.

Participants made no real reaction to news that factory orders for November increased 0.7% when a 0.3% decline had been widely expected to follow a 0.7% slide in the prior month.

Minutes from the most recent FOMC meeting were also shrugged off. The minutes indicate that some committee members are still concerned about downside risk, especially as it relates to housing, but that economic activity continues to increase at a moderate rate. Still, voting members view the progress toward fulfilling the Fed's dual mandate as disappointingly slow.

The dollar made a nice move out of the red for a 0.3% gain. This is the second straight day that the greenback has advanced against a collection of competing currencies following seven straight sessions of losses.

Commodites, save for industrials, finished largely lower on the day. Precious metals shed 3.6%, followed by a 2.7% decline in soft commodities and a 1.6% sell off in grains.

March silver shed 5.1% to close at $29.51 per ounce, while Feb gold dropped 3.2% to end at $1378.80 per ounce. Profit taking from the continued rally in commodities, coupled with optimism about the recovering economy, weighed on both metals throughout the day.

Feb crude oil ended off 2.4% to $89.38 per barrel, as profit taking also took its toll on crude prices. Crude oil notched session lows at $88.36, its worst levels in ~2 weeks. Feb natural gas finished up 0.1% to $4.66 per MMBtu after it was able to recoup all of its morning losses.

Advancing Sectors: Telecom (+0.9%), Utilities (+0.5%), Health Care (+0.4%), Tech (+0.1%)
Declining Sectors: Energy (-0.6%), Consumer Discretionary (-0.6%), Materials (-0.5%), Consumer Staples (-0.4%), Financials (-0.2%), Industrials (-0.1%)DJ30 +20.43 NASDAQ -10.27 NQ100 -0.1% R2K -1.6% SP400 -1.1% SP500 -1.67 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 844/2.02 bln/1805 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1103/1.09 bln/1889