YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: Listless action left stocks to slide on a couple of occasions during the day, but buyers eventually bought the dip to take stocks back to the neutral line for a flat finish.

Stocks started the session on weak footing following mixed action overseas. Asia's major averages were split as China's Shanghai Composite and Hong Kong's Hang Seng slipped, but Japan's Nikkei climbed sharply amid news that the Bank of Japan increased its GDP forecast to 3.3% from 2.1% and left its key rate at 0.1%. Europe's bourses moved lower after it was learned that United Kingdom fourth quarter GDP fell 0.5%. There was also concern about the capital health of Spain's banks.

Earnings were generally solid, but they did nothing to drive the broader market. That's mostly because the market has come to expect strong results following its ascent in recent months -- the Dow remains near its best level in two years, but the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite both set their two-year highs last week.

The Consumer Confidence Index for January offered some support to stocks in early trade. It came in at an eight-month high of 60.6, which was much better than the 53.5 Briefing.com consensus. Excitement over the consumer confidence reading helped the broad market recover from an opening slip, but stocks were unable turn positive. Failure to find higher ground invited selling pressure, which kept stocks in the red almost all afternoon and the S&P 500 down as much as 0.8%.

Buyers finally surfaced in the final hour. The bid they placed was broad and strong enough for the major averages to push back to the flat line. Energy stocks and financial stocks had been heavy drags on the broader market for most of the afternoon. Both sectors were down in excess of 1% at their session lows, but each made a nice move into the close.

Energy settled a tame 0.3% lower for the session. Baker Hughes (BHI 62.32, +2.95) was one of its best performers, thanks to an upside earnings surprise for its latest quarter. Many other sector members were hurt by concerns related to another drop in oil prices, which recorded their lowest close in a month by dropping 1.9% to $86.19 per barrel.

Financials ended the day down just 0.2%. Dow component American Express (AXP 44.80, -0.99) was a drag after its in-line results failed to inspire investors. Fellow Dow component Travelers (TRV 56.23, +0.61) displayed individual strength following news of an upside earnings surprise.

Telecom ended the day as the best performing sector. It advanced 1.0% amid strength in Dow component Verizon (VZ 35.79, +0.55), which actually came short of the consensus earnings estimate.

Better-than-expected earnings from fellow blue chips Johnson & Johnson (JNJ 61.08, -1.02) and 3M (MMM 88.50, -1.82) were overshadowed by forecasts that were either outright disappointing or essentially lackluster.

Treasuries caught a nice bid. Most of their bounce followed an auction of 2-year Treasury Notes. The auction drew a bid-to-cover of 3.47, dollar demand of $121.5 billion, and an indirect bidder participation rate of 27.0%. For comparison, the average of the three previous auctions gives a bid-to-cover of 3.61, dollar demand of $126.5 billion, and an indirect bidder participation of 33.6%. The 2-year Note saw its yield move below 0.58% and the benchmark 10-year Note saw its yield slide just under 3.33%.

Commodities had a weak session, which culminated in a 1.5% loss for its worst single-session slide in three weeks. Weakness was widespread among commodities.

Of those that are followed most closely by the financial media, oil prices dropped to their lowest close of the past month by settling pit trade with a 1.9% loss at $86.19 per barrel. Natural gas fell an even steeper 2.4% to $4.49 per MMBtu.

As for precious metals, gold prices dropped 1.0% to a three-month closing low of $1331.20 per ounce while silver prices slid 1.9% to a near two-month closing low of $26.81 per ounce.

Advancing Sectors: Telecom (+1.0%), Tech (+0.4%), Consumer Staples (+0.2%), Materials (+0.1%)
Declining Sectors: Energy (-0.3%), Financials (-0.2%), Industrials (-0.2%), Utilities (-0.1%), Health Care (-0.1%)DJ30 -3.33 NASDAQ +1.70 NQ100 +0.2% R2K +0.1% SP400 +0.2% SP500 +0.34 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1212/1.95 bln/1430 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1603/1.04 bln/1379