YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: Stocks slipped to modest losses in the early going, but the gradual accumulation of buying interest helped stocks work their way to strong gains. Although the S&P 500 still couldn't push past the 1300 line, the advance offset losses dealt during the prior session.

Morning participants opted to put pressure on stocks. Early efforts were generally broad based, but financials were hit the hardest after the Fed refused a proposal by Bank of America (BAC 13.65, -0.23) to distribute capital to shareholders in the second half of 2011. That headline completely overshadowed an upside earnings surprise and dividend hike from Discover Financial (DFS 23.44, +1.19).

Financials were down more than 1% at their morning low, but slashed that in afternoon trade. The sector settled with a relatively tame loss of 0.3% as materials stocks helped lead buyers back into the market.

Materials stocks were only down slightly in early trade, but swung to a 1.4% gain with help from metals and mining issues, namely Freeport McMoRan (FCX 54.94, +2.66) and Newmont Mining (NEM 54.83, +1.66). DuPont (DD 53.46, -0.21) was one of the few materials sector members that failed to move higher.

Despite the sector's overall strength, it lacks the weight necessary to take the S&P 500 above the 1300 line, which has represented a formidable point of resistance for the past couple of sessions. The S&P 500 had hugged the 1300 line during the last hour of trade, but pulled back a couple of points in the final few minutes. The late slip coincided with headlines that indicated Portugal's Parliament rejected government austerity measures.

In terms of individual performances, Jabil Circuit (JBL 20.99, +2.06) was one of today's top performers. The stock posted its strongest percentage gain in months on high share volume following an upside earnings surprise and upside guidance.

Cree (CREE 42.90, -6.10) was pummeled after the company cut its forecast. A disappointing outlook from Adobe Systems (ADBE 31.68, -1.20) brought about a strong push against its shares.

Economic data was limited to new home sales figures for February. They fell 17% month-over-month to an annualized rate of 250,000, which is a record low and considerably less than Briefing.com consensus for 288,000. The SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF (XHB 18.01, +0.12) managed to shake off the news and stage a strong gain.

Tomorrow's economic calendar features weekly jobless claims and the latest durable goods orders data. Tomorrow also brings the latest weekly natural gas inventory report and results from an auction of 10-year TIPS.

Commodities ended mixed on the session, with precious metals (+1.7%), energy (+0.6%), and industrials (+0.1%) all posting gains, while grains (-1%), softs (-0.9%) and livestock (-0.7%)all posted losses.

May crude oil rallied for 0.7% to close at $105.75 per barrel. Today's closing price marks crude oil's best in ~2.5 yrs. Continued uncertainty about how the situation in Libya will play out, coupled with heightened tensions in other parts of the country -including in Gaza, supported prices in crude. April natural gas rallied for 1.9% to end at $4.41 per MMBtu.

Global unrest, including recent attacks in Israel, sent the precious metals higher in a flight to safety. April gold rallied for 0.7% to finish at $1438.00 per ounce, while May silver surged 2.5% to end at $37.19 per ounce. Silver traded to a fresh ~30 yr high at $37.29, while gold put in highs at $1441.20, about 4 points shy of its all time.

Advancing Sectors: Materials (+1.4%), Consumer Discretionary (+0.8%), Tech (+0.6%), Industrials (+0.4%), Consumer Staples (+0.3%), Telecom (+0.2%), Energy (+0.2%)
Unchanged: Utilities
Declining Sectors: Health Care (-0.1%), Financials (-0.3%) DJ30 +67.39 NASDAQ +14.43 NQ100 +0.6% R2K +0.3% SP400 -0.1% SP500 +3.77 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1386/1.76 bln/1216 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1624/868 mln/1334