YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: Afternoon volatility threatened to undo modest gains, but stocks fought through the selling to end the day in positive ground.

An absence of trading catalysts made for sluggish trade in the early going. The only major news item was China's overnight announcement that it will raise its Reserve Requirement Ratio by another 50 basis points. Concern about how that rate hike might stymie global growth were brushed aside after some initial selling.

Left to their own volition, stocks eventually resumed their upward climb. Broad market gains never became anything more than modest, but they were still enough to set new two-year highs. Sellers showed some life in the second half of the session, though. The Dow only flinched, but both the Nasdaq and S&P 500 fell into the red before a flurry of buying in the final few minutes made for a positive finish. That helped the broad market secure its third straight weekly gain.

The expiration of monthly options likely played a part in afternoon volatility, although none of the market's moves was overly dramatic. Trading volume was also stoked by the expiration of options. As such, share volume on the NYSE surpassed 1 billion for only the second time this month. It also exceeded its 200-day average of 1.12 billion shares.

As a reminder, U.S. bond and equity markets will be closed on Monday in observance of Presidents Day.

Precious metals gained 1.5% today, led by a 2.9% surge in March silver, which finished at $32.52 per ounce. It traded to a fresh ~31 yr high at $32.87 per ounce earlier in the session. April gold ended up 0.3% to $1389.20 per ounce. It notched a new 5 week high at $1392.60. Both metals rallied today on weakness in the dollar as well as concerns about the events unfolding in the Middle East. They pulled back from their respective highs heading into the close of pit trade.

March crude oil finished lower by 0.1% to $86.20. Prices moved higher on reports that Egypt would allow passage of the Iranian war ships through the Suez, escalating violence in Bahrain, and a weaker dollar. After trading to highs, at $87.88, prices began pulling back toward the unchanged mark, where they closed. The WTI-Brent spread remained above -13.00 points, at -12.79. March natural gas finished higher by 0.1% to $3.88 per MMBtu.

Grains shed 2.2%, the largest decliner of the group. May wheat fell 3.1% to end at $8.56 per bushel, while May soybeans dropped 2.9% to $13.75 per bushel.

Advancing Sectors: Energy (+0.6%), Consumer Discretionary (+0.4%), Industrials (+0.3%), Health Care (+0.3%), Consumer Staples (+0.2%), Financial (+0.2%), Telecom (+0.1%)
Unchanged: Utilities
Declining Sectors: Materials (+1.0%), Tech (-0.1%) DJ30 +73.11 NASDAQ +2.37 NQ100 -0.2% R2K +0.1% SP400 +0.1% SP500 +2.58 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1345/2.11 bln/1283 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1718/1.16 bln/1272