YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: Renewed selling pressure sent stocks to their second straight loss as $100 oil spooked participants. Technical support helped limit the downturn.

The mood among participants was mixed in the opening minutes of trade, but the tone quickly soured as oil prices extended their climb to new two-year highs amid ongoing concerns related to social and political turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa. At its session high, oil traded at $100 per barrel on the nose. Prices were backed down in afternoon trade so that the energy component settled pit trade with a 2.8% gain at $98.10 per barrel. Weekly oil inventory figures will be released tomorrow morning.

Oil's late morning and early afternoon climb induced renewed selling pressure among stocks. At its session low, the S&P 500 was down 1% to the 1300 line. However, support at that level combined with oil's pullback from the $100 mark so that stocks were able to catch some relief.

Trading volume was up sharply for the second straight session, but the 1.33 billion shares that exchanged hands today on the NYSE was the highest tally in two months.

Although the broad market closed comfortably above its session low, energy was the only major sector to finish with a gain. Higher oil prices helped energy stocks outperform for the entire session and settle with a 2.0% gain. Chesapeake Energy (CHK 34.33, +2.32) was one of the sector's top percentage gainers after it posted a better-than-expected earnings report.

At the other end of the spectrum, industrial stocks endured the sharpest selling. That sector shed 1.8% as FedEx (FDX 89.25, -4.04) fell more than 4% as investors considered the consequence of higher fuel costs on the operations of the global delivery company.

Retailers also had a rough session. They fell 1.8% as a group. TJX Co (TJX 48.81, -0.91) traded in line with the group after its disappointing outlook overshadowed an upside earnings surprise. Saks (SKS 11.86, -0.31) and home improvement retailer Lowe's (LOW 25.73, -0.26) also logged losses, despite their own upside earnings surprises. In contrast, Chico's FAS (CHS 13.15, +1.09) overcame an earnings miss to climb sharply to a six-month high.

Hewlett-Packard (HPQ 43.10, -5.13) tumbled almost 10% after its upside earnings surprise was ignored because of a light revenue figure and a disappointing forecast.

Toll Brothers (TOL 21.20, +0.44) had better-than-expected earnings and scored a gain. The stock will likely come back into focus tomorrow, which is when the latest new home sales report will be posted.

Existing home sales for January were reported today. They increased 2.7% month over month to an annualized rate of 5.36 million units, which is greater than the rate of 5.23 million units that had been expected, on average, among economists polled by Briefing.com.

In the face of further weakness among stocks, Treasuries at the short end of the yield curve lacked support. Pressure in the space picked up after a $35 billion auction of 5-year Notes drew a yield of 2.19%, a bid-to-cover of 2.69, and an indirect bidder participation rate of 34.2%. However, the 30-year Bond was able to advance so that its yield moved down to 4.58%.

Energy continued its tear today, adding another 2.9%. April WTI crude oil rallied for 2.8% to close at $98.10 per barrel. The rally was, once again, supported by concerns about supply disruptions in the Middle East. Various reports indicate that anywhere between 25%-50% of Libya's oil production has been shut in due to the ongoing protests. Prices traded to $100 per barrel exactly in early afternoon trade, a fresh ~2.5 yr high, but pulled back close to 2 points heading into the close. March natural gas gained 0.1% to finish at $3.89 per MMBtu.

Precious metals added 1.1% today, helped by a flight to safety over concerns about the Middle East as well as the continued sell off in equities. April gold finished higher by 0.8% to $1414.00, while March silver rallied for 1.4% to end at $33.29 per ounce.

Advancing Sectors: Energy (+2.0%)
Declining Sectors: Consumer Staples (-0.2%), Utilities (-0.4%), Financials (-0.4%), Materials (-0.7%), Health Care (-1.0%), Telecom (-1.0%), Tech (-1.3%), Consumer Discretionary (-1.5%), Industrials (-1.8%)DJ30 -107.01 NASDAQ -33.43 NQ100 -0.9% R2K -1.6% SP400 -1.4% SP500 -8.04 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 629/2.48 bln/1996 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1062/1.33 bln/1959