YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: Stocks were hit hard at the open by sellers who were focused on disappointing guidance from Cisco and Akamai Tech, rather than a better-than-expected initial jobless claims report, but the major averages rallied when it became clear that buyers remain in control.

This morning's sell-off was a broad based affair, but it didn't last much more than half an hour. Once stocks stabilized, a buy-the-dip mentality became apparent as participants pushed back in for fear of missing out on further gains. Overall share volume was not completely impressive -- it did break above 1 billion shares on the NYSE for the first time in seven sessions -- but watching the tape today left little doubt that bullish participants continue to call the shots.

Even though the broader market rallied, sellers barely let up on Cisco (CSCO 18.92, -3.12) and Akamai (AKAM 40.75, -7.24). The 15% loss suffered by AKAM was its worst single-session slide in more than a year and left shares at a six-month low. As for CSCO, its 14% drop was its worst in three months and caused shares to set a new 52-week low. Weakness in CSCO proved a principal cause in the Dow's failure to find higher ground, ultimately snapping its eight-session streak of gains.

The rest of the earnings picture was rather mixed as Molson Coors (TAP 45.48, -2.09) and Sprint Nextel (S 4.60, +0.25) both missed the consensus earnings estimate, but PepsiCo (PEP 63.36, -1.06), MetLife (MET 47.27, -0.33) and Prudential (PRU 65.00, +1.87) posted upside surprises. Whole Foods (WFMI 60.05, +6.30) surged after it complemented an upside earnings estimate with increased guidance.

There was some volatility to late trade. Stocks seemed to gyrate with every word of Egypt's President Mubarak, who indicated in a speech that he will not leave office until September, despite calls from his citizens for him to step down immediately. Mubarak's refusal in the face of protests carries potential for geopolitical upset.

Participants got their first dose of data in a few days with the release of initial jobless claims for the week ended January 29. Initial claims totaled 383,000, which is less than Briefing.com consensus of 410,000 and only the second time since July 2008 that initial claims came in below 400,000.

Wholesale inventories for December increased 1.0%, but that news was of little concern to participants. News that the Treasury Budget for January featured a smaller-than-expected $49.8 billion deficit was also shrugged off.

Treasuries resumed their descent this session, but the yield on the benchmark 10-year Note remains below 3.70% after its rally in the prior session. Results from today's 30-year Bond auction proved less inspiring. The auction drew a bid-to-cover of 2.51, dollar demand of $40.2 billion, and an indirect bidder participation rate of 43.1%.

Commodities had a relatively mixed session that ended with the CRB Commodity Index up less than 0.2%.

Among the more widely followed natural resources, crude oil prices finished flat at $86.73 per barrel. It hit a session high of $87.90 per barrel, but failed to hold that position as the afternoon wore on.

Natural gas prices slid 1.7% to $3.98 per MMBtu after failing to hold a sharp spike to $4.15 per MMBtu amid news that weekly inventories had a greater-than-expected draw.

As for precious metals, gold prices finished 0.2% lower at $1362.50 per ounce. Gold's session high was set at $1364.50 per ounce. Silver prices shed 0.6% to settle pit trade at $30.09 per ounce. They were at $30.28 per ounce at session highs.

Advancing Sectors: Energy (+0.9%), Telecom (+0.5%), Industrial (+0.4%), Materials (+0.3%), Consumer Discretionary (+0.2%), Health Care (+0.1%), Utilities (+0.1%)
Unchanged: Financial
Declining Sectors: Consumer Staples (-0.5%), Tech (-0.5%)DJ30 -10.60 NASDAQ +1.38 NQ100 +0.1% R2K +0.4% SP400 +0.6% SP500 +0.99 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1347/2.51 bln/1244 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1570/1.02 bln/1390