YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: Stocks tried to rally back from another stiff selling effort, but the broader market's inability to extend beyond the neutral line led stocks to waver into the close.

Sellers attempted to take control of trade right away. Their efforts were motivated by worries that China might have to tighten monetary policy to contain inflation after the country reported that its economy expanded at a torrid clip of 9.8% in the fourth quarter. Some stepped in with a bid that took the S&P 500 and the Dow back to the neutral line, but resistance there encouraged sellers to redouble their efforts.

For the second straight session the Nasdaq was hit the hardest. At its session low, the tech-rich Index was down 1.4%. The S&P 500 was down 0.8% and the Dow was down 0.7% at their worst levels of the day. Selling pressure began to ease midsession, though there wasn't any headline to account for the shift in sentiment. Amid the improved tone stocks staged a gradual climb in afternoon action, but neither the Dow nor the S&P 500 could do more than briefly poke into positive territory before drifting into the close.

eBay (EBAY 30.78, +1.68) was one of the few strong performers in the Nasdaq today. Its near 6% surge followed better-than-expected earnings and strong guidance. Fell Nasdaq component Google (GOOG 626.77, -4.98) was weak ahead of its latest report.

Morgan Stanley (MS 29.02, +1.27) was a standout in the broader market, thanks to an upside earnings surprise. It led the financial sector to a 0.5% gain, even though regional lenders like FifthThird (FITB 14.22, -0.39) and PNC Financial (PNC 61.00, -0.81) lagged following strong results of their own.

Freeport McMoRan (FCX 110.90, -4.26) also tumbled after it reported better-than-expected earnings. It was caught up in a push against basic materials stocks, which collectively fell to a 1.5% loss.

There was a substantial dose of data to digest this morning. It included news that initial jobless claims for the week ended January 15 came in at 404,000, which is below the 425,000 initial claims that had been widely expected. The week-over-week decline took the four-week moving average down to 411,750. As for continuing claims, they fell to 3.86 million from 3.89 million.

Existing home sales for December spiked 12.3% to an annualized rate of 5.28 million units. Not only is that better than the rate of 4.80 million units that had been widely expected, but it was also the highest rate since Spring.

Leading indicators for December increased by 1.0%. That bested the 0.6% increase that was widely expected, but it remained on level with what had been recorded for the prior month.

The Philadelphia Fed Index for January was a bit disappointing. It came in at 19.3, which is both shy of the 20.0 that had been anticipated and below the downwardly revised reading of 20.8 for the prior month.

The dollar scored only its second gain in nine sessions with a 0.2% advance against a basket of major foreign currencies. Most of that move came against the yen, which was down 1.2% to 83.0 yen per dollar at the closing bell.

Treasuries turned sharply lower in the face of a weaker equity market. They had already been under pressure, but their slide steepened with the release of results from a $13 billion auction of 10-year TIPS. Weak demand at the auction caused the benchmark 10-year Note to drop to a loss of about a full point. It settled off of that low so that its yield was just shy of 3.45%.

Tomorrow's economic calendar is empty so most of the market's attention will be on the latest from Dow components General Electric (GE 18.43, +0.10) and Bank of America (BAC 14.54, +0.17).

Commodities finished mixed, once again, on the session, with grains (+1.1%) leading the way higher and precious metals (-2.7%) leading the decliners.

Precious metals sold off today on concerns about continued tightening in China following better-than-expected GDP data. Feb gold finished lower by 1.5% to $1345.60 per ounce, while March silver dropped 4.2% to close at $27.47 per ounce. Gold's lows, at $1342.40, represent its lowest levels in 2 months, while silver's low at $27.37 represent its lowest levels in over 1.5 months.

March crude oil ended lower by 2.3% to $89.61 per barrel. It too sold off on concerns about continued tightening in China. In fact, this morning's inventory data had little effect on prices. Crude oil's lows, at $88.90, marked its worst levels in about two weeks. Feb natural gas rallied for 2.5% to close at $4.69 per MMBtu, following bullish inventory data. It notched highs at $$4.703, its best level since early Jan.

Advancing Sectors: Utilities (+0.6%), Financials (+0.5%), Consumer Staples (+0.4%), Consumer Discretionary (+0.2%), Health Care (+0.2%)
Declining Sectors: Telecom (-0.2%), Industrials (-0.4%), Tech (-0.7%), Energy (-0.7%), Materials (-1.5%)DJ30 -2.49 NASDAQ -21.07 NQ100 -0.8% R2K -1.1% SP400 -0.8% SP500 -1.66 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 731/2.33 bln/1908 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1124/1.19 bln/1845