YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: Action was largely listless all session. That left the Nasdaq and S&P 500 to muddle along and log modest losses. However, the Dow eked out a slight gain in the final few minutes to score its eighth straight advance.

Stocks traded in choppy fashion for the first part of the session as participants appeared content to let stocks find their own direction, rather than continue to chase the tape. Some opted to take profits when the S&P 500 failed to push through resistance at the neutral line, but selling never became overly intense. That made it possible for the Dow to recover for another gain.

The Dow spent most of the session narrowly in front of its counterparts. Disney (DIS 43.36, +2.18) provided it with support following an upside earnings surprise that took the stock to a record high.

Fellow blue chip Coca-Cola (KO 63.15, +0.28) reported in-line earnings results. Its shares gapped up at the open, but drifted off of that mark throughout the session.

The broader market was generally unenthused by the pair's earnings. Merger and acquisition activity also had little influence on trade. The latest deal-making includes plans of the London Stock Exchange to acquire TMX Group, which is the owner of the Toronto Stock Exchange, for $3.2 billion. On a similar note, Deutsche Borse and NYSE Euronext (NYX 39.17, +5.76) confirmed that they are discussing a potential business combination.

Treasuries caught a bid after suffering from selling for more than a week. That spell of selling sent the yield on the benchmark 10-year Note to a nine-month high yesterday. Heightened yields and relatively weak action in the stock market helped drive strong demand at the latest the 10-year Note auction. The auction drew a bid-to-cover ratio of 3.23, dollar demand of $77.5 billion, and an indirect bidder participation rate of 71.3%.

Fed Chairman Bernanke offered no new insight into macro conditions during his testimony to the House Budget Committee. Consistent with the recent FOMC policy statement, he noted that the economic recovery appears to have strengthened in the past few months, although the unemployment rate remains high.

Grains led all commodities higher, rallying for 2%. May corn futures finished higher by 3.5% to $7.08 per bushel. Prices were supported by a bullish USDA report, which showed that global corn inventory levels fell 3.5% to 122.51 million metric ton, while U.S. corn inventory levels declined 9.4% to 675 mln bushels. In the U.S., this is the lowest level since the 1995/96 crop season.

The energy sector finished with a 0.9% gain on the day. March natural gas ended higher by 0.1% to $4.05 per MMBtu, ending a five session losing streak. March crude oil settled lower by 0.3% to $86.71 per barrel.

It was a choppy session for the precious metals. April gold ended with a 0.1% gain to $1365.50 per ounce, while March silver ended near flat at $30.28 per ounce.

Advancing Sectors: Consumer Discretionary (+0.6%), Telecom (+0.2%), Consumer Staples (+0.2%)
Unchanged: Industrials
Declining Sectors: Energy (-1.2%), Materials (-0.9%), Financials (-0.7%), Health Care (-0.2%), Tech (-0.2%), Utilities (-0.1%)DJ30 +6.74 NASDAQ -7.98 NQ100 -0.1% R2K -0.5% SP400 -0.3% SP500 -3.69 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 958/1.95 bln/1668 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1123/947 mln/1843