YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: Stocks slipped in response to some early selling, but once they worked their way into higher ground they entered into a sideways drift that lasted almost all afternoon.

Dwindling confidence in Greece's ability to establish and implement new austerity measures undermined early sentiment. Rumors regarding a forthcoming agreement continue to permeate trade, but many of those stories are followed with headlines about further delays to discussions.

Despite frustration over Greece, an absence of economic data, and a lack of leadership among stocks, stocks were able to attract buyers in early trade. Their support spurred a rebound that took all three major equity averages into positive territory, where the spent the rest of the session drifting along narrowly above the neutral line.

With a 0.7% advance, utilities stocks collectively scored the strongest gains, despite their stodgy, defensive-oriented stature. Energy stocks weren't far behind; they climbed 0.5% with help from a rebound in oil prices, which overcame an early loss to settle pit trade with a 1.6% gain at $98.54 per barrel. BP Plc (BP 46.60, -0.27) was able to cut its loss, but still couldn't score an actual gain as shares wrestled with sellers in the wake of the company's latest quarterly report, which included a dividend hike to $0.08 from $0.07 per quarter.

Dow component Coca-Cola (KO 68.55, +0.52) put together a solid gain following an upside earnings surprise for the latest quarter, but fellow blue chip Microsoft (MSFT 30.35, +0.15) set a new 52-week high.

Swiss investment and banking outfit UBS AG (UBS 14.27, -0.10) slid in response to a disappointing quarterly report. Domestic investment banks and brokerage plays were implicated by the report. As a group financials finished the session with a fractional loss.

The only actual economic data for the day featured the latest consumer credit numbers, which showed that consumer credit spiked during December to $19.3 billion. That's more than double the Briefing.com consensus of $8.5 billion in consumer credit.

Fed Chairman Bernanke delivered a testimony to the Senate Budget Committee today, but his comments came without surprise since they mirrored those delivered last week to the House Budget Committee.

Oil scored a strong gain after it had started pit trade with a modest loss. Specifically, the energy component settled with a 1.6% gain at $98.54 per barrel. In contrast, natural gas gave up an early gain to close at $2.47 per MMBtu with a 3.1% loss.

Precious metals overcame early selling pressure. The effort culmitated with gold closing pit trade at $1748.60 per ounce for a 0.5% gain, while silver settled with a 1.5% gain at $34.24 per ounce after it had been down about 1% this morning.

The improved tone in the commodity complex resulted in a 0.3% gain for the CRB Index.

Advancing Sectors: Utilities +0.7%, Energy +0.5%, Consumer Discretionary +0.4%, Tech +0.3%, Health Care +0.3%, Consumer Staples +0.1%
Unchanged: Telecom, Industrials
Declining Sectors: Financials -0.1%, Materials -0.3%DJ30 +33.07 NASDAQ +2.09 NQ100 +0.2% R2K -0.1% SP400 +0.2% SP500 +2.72 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1201/1.77 bln/1336 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1689/728 mln/1299