YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: Equities ended the day with slim gains and the S&P 500 settled higher by 0.1%.

Like the previous two sessions, today's action got off to a lower start before bargain hunters stepped in and helped the major averages climb to fresh highs.

After turning positive in early afternoon trade, equities stumbled briefly before ending near their highs.

As the broader market climbed off its early lows, industrials and discretionary stocks paced the rebound.

The industrial sector outperformed as transportation-related stocks saw broad strength. The Dow Jones Transportation Average climbed 1.6% with 19 of 20 components registering gains. Airlines and truckers were among the index leaders as Alaska Air (ALK 59.46, +2.43) and JB Hunt (JBHT 74.44, +3.94) settled with respective gains of 4.3% and 5.6%.

Including today's advance, the transportation average has added more than 17.0% since the start of the year.

In addition to transports, defense stocks also supported the industrial sector. The PHLX Defense Index gained 1.1%.

Elsewhere, discretionary shares garnered buying interest after the February retail sales report exceeded expectations. As a result, retailers received a day-long bid, and the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT 70.19, +0.92) advanced 1.3%. Though most retail stocks benefitted from today's economic data, Express (EXPR 18.25, -0.60) did not partake in the rally. The apparel retailer slid 3.2% after its cautious first quarter and full-year earnings guidance provided some worry to investors.

While cyclical industrials and consumer stocks fueled the morning rebound, the defensively-oriented utilities also finished among the leaders. This suggests some indecision was present as the market struggled to find direction. The SPDR Utilities Select Sector ETF (XLU 38.13, +0.17) rose 0.5%.

On the downside, the materials sector ended with a slim loss as steelmakers weighed. The Market Vectors Steel ETF (SLX 44.81, -0.91) lost 2.0%.

Today's trading volume was well below average as 585 million shares changed hands on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Notably, today's tally was the second lowest total observed this year, taking the back seat only to the February 11 session.

Reviewing today's economic data, retail sales increased a solid 1.1% in February after rising an upwardly revised 0.2% (from 0.1%) in January. The Briefing.com consensus expected retail sales to increase 0.5%.

Notably, the report suggests the effect of the tax increases following the fiscal cliff deal has not stunted overall demand. The strong gains in wages that were detailed in the February employment report also played an important part in keeping consumption levels higher than expected. Those gains allowed consumers to spend more while also adding to their savings.

Export prices, excluding agriculture, increased by 0.6% in February after they had increased 0.5% during the prior month. Excluding oil, import prices were unchanged, which follows the 0.2% increase experienced in the prior month.

Total business inventories increased 1.0% in January after increasing an upwardly revised 0.3% (from 0.1%) in December. The Briefing.com consensus expected business inventories to increase 0.3%.

The February Treasury Budget showed a deficit of $203.50 billion, ahead of the deficit of $205 billion expected by the Briefing.com consensus.

In tomorrow's economic data, weekly initial and continuing claims, February PPI, core PPI, as well as the fourth quarter current account balance will all be reported at 8:30 ET.DJ30 +5.22 NASDAQ +2.80 SP500 +2.04 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1384/1.52 bln/1046 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1689/584.7 mln/1300

3:30 pm :

• Apr crude oil advanced to a session high of $93.40 per barrel shortly after floor trade opened. However, prices retreated and fell into negative territory in afternoon action as a stronger dollar index and weaker than anticipated inventory data that showed a build of 2.624 mln barrels when a build of 2.3 mln barrels was anticipated put pressure on the energy component. Crude oil dipped to a session low of $91.91 per barrel and eventually settled with a 0.1% loss at $92.46 per barrel.
• Apr nautral gas traded higher for its entire floor session. It touched a session high of $3.70 per MMBtu in afternoon floor trade and settled with a 1.1% gain at $3.68 per MMBtu.
• Apr gold fell into negative territory despite trading as high as $1598.80 per ounce in early morning action. A stronger dollar index following upbeat retail sales data put pressure on the yellow metal. Gold dipped to a session low of $1584.40 per ounce and eventually settled with a 0.2% loss at $1588.00 per ounce.
• May silver also slid into the red and brushed a session low of $28.83 per ounce. After chopping around slightly above that level for the remainder of pit trade, it settled with a 0.7% loss at $28.96 per ounce.