YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: A lack of catalysts left the Dow and S&P 500 to chop their way to a flat finish, but the tech-rich Nasdaq logged a sizable loss as it lagged its counterparts once again.

Corporate news for today was limited to only a handful of earnings announcements. None of them was of concern for the broad market. Similarly, data was limited to a January wholesale inventory report that showed a slightly stronger-than-expected 1.1% increase, but that had no real impact on trade.

Market participants primarily took their early cues from oil, which opened pit trade at session highs then drifted down to $104.38 per barrel so that it closed with a 0.6% loss. Selling after the close has the commodity near $104 per barrel in electronic trade.

Weekly oil inventory data posted a bigger-than-expected build, but for the second week in a row the inventory report was met with a muted response. That suggests that the energy component is currently most concerned with the social and political events in the Middle East and North Africa.

Oil's early strength put stocks on the defensive, but as oil moved lower the major averages moved higher. However, every attempt by the S&P 500 to turn positive was repeatedly refused by lingering selling interest.

The broad market's inability to turn positive stemmed partly from a lack of leadership. Defensive-oriented stocks like telecom (+0.8%) and utilities (+1.1%) had the strongest gains, but make up the smallest share of market weight. Tech stocks (-0.6%), which represent the largest sector by market weight, retreated to a loss as semiconductor stocks slumped again.

The Philadelphia Semiconductor Index dropped 3.0% to close below its 50-day moving average for the first time since September. Ongoing weakness in the semiconductor space has the Index down 5.5% this week and the Nasdaq Composite trailing its counterparts.

A successful Treasury auction helped drive buying so that the yield on the 10-year Note fell to a five-session low of 3.45% before easing up a bit. The auction of 10-year Notes drew a bid-to-cover ratio of 3.32 for dollar demand of $69.7 billion. The indirect bidder participation rate came in at 53.0%. For comparison, the prior auction had a bid-to-cover of 3.23 and dollar demand of $77.5 billion with an indirect bidder participation rate of 71.3%.

Energy (+1.3%) led all advancing sectors, while grains (-1.9%) led all declining sectors, in what was another mixed session for commodities.

April crude oil shed 0.6% to close at $104.38 per barrel. Prices trended lower throughout the session to close in negative territory. A larger than expected build in inventories helped weigh on prices despite headlines from Libya indicating that several crude oil assets were destroyed/on fire from the fighting. April natural gas gained 1.4% to close at $3.93 per MMBtu.

April gold ended higher by 0.2% to $1429.60 per ounce, while May silver gained 1.1% to finish at $36.04 per ounce. Both metals pulled back in morning trade as the dollar bounced and crude oil sold off. They did, however, manage to bounce off the flat line to finish the session in positive territory.

Advancing Sectors: Utilities (+1.1%), Telecom (+0.8%), Consumer Staples (+0.5%), Consumer Discretionary (+0.2%), Health Care (+0.2%)
Declining Sectors: Financial (-0.1%), Industrials (-0.2%), Tech (-0.6%), Energy (-0.6%), Materials (-1.5%)DJ30 -1.29 NASDAQ -14.05 NQ100 -0.6% R2K -0.4% SP400 -0.2% SP500 -1.80 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1079/2.00 bln/1536 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1417/869 mln/1560