YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: The absence of any real catalyst kept traders on the sidelines, but a big bounce by energy stocks led the broader market to a modest gain that has left it just a point shy of a 100% gain from its 2008 low.

Stocks chopped along listlessly in the early going. There were neither influential corporate announcements nor data to provide direction. Action abroad also failed to offer any kind of cue.

Although the broader market was mired in a relatively narrow range for most of the day, energy stocks surged. The sector settled with a 2.1% gain, even though energy commodity prices finished mixed -- March crude oil settled 0.9% lower at $84.81 per barrel, but March natural gas gained 0.5% to $3.93 per MMBtu. Oil and gas drillers (+3.0%) and refiners (+3.6%) were the sector's top performers.

Also natural resource plays, materials stocks found favor. The sector finished with a 1.0% gain in the face of a stronger dollar, which settled with a 0.2% gain after it had set a three-week high in the early going.

Every other major sectors was caught up in the broader market's lackluster trade. As a result, they finished mixed. Despite that, the S&P 500 was still able to muster a modest gain, which incrementally extended the stock market's two-year high. With today's gain, the S&P 500 is now up almost 100% from its March 2009 low just beneath 667.

Participation this session was paltry, though. Trading volume on the NYSE barely broke 800 million shares. That makes for the worst share volume total of this year.

Commodities, save for the grains sector (-0.6%), finished higher today. Energy and precious metals (+0.9%) led the way higher for commodities.

March silver finished higher by 1.8% to $30.53 per ounce. April gold ended up 0.3% to $1365.10 per ounce. Both metals rallied to their best levels in late morning trade but spent the remainder of the session trading sideways below their respective highs.

March crude oil settled lower by 0.9% to $84.81 per barrel. It was a relatively uneventful session for crude oil until approximately 15 min left in pit trade, prices dropped below the $85 level to their lowest levels in 2 months. March natural gas finished higher by 0.5% to $3.93 per MMBtu.

March copper, which settled up 2% to $4.63 per pound, traded to a new intraday high at $4.64 earlier today. Strong import data in China helped copper prices move higher today.

Advancing Sectors: Energy (+2.1%), Materials (+1.0%), Health Care (+0.3%), Tech (+0.2%), Financial (+0.1%)
Declining Sectors: Industrials (-0.1%), Consumer Discretionary (-0.4%), Consumer Staples (-0.5%), Telecom (-0.5%), Utilities (-0.8%) DJ30 -5.07 NASDAQ +7.74 NQ100 +0.3% R2K +0.5% SP400 +0.5% SP500 +3.17 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1439/1.97 bln/1231 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1652/815 mln/1329