YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: In contrast to the prior session, the stock market put together an impressive gain and held it into the close. The action in recent sessions is making for a strong finish to the first quarter.

Stocks are currently up almost 5% year to date. That puts the S&P 500 on track to tie last year's first quarter performance, which was actually the best first quarter that stocks had recorded since 1998. Buying interest in recent weeks hasn't come as a result of any particular catalyst or economic development, rather a fear among participants of missing out on further gains.

Buyers showed their willingness to step in with a bid once it was apparent that an early slip wasn't hit with any kind of follow through selling interest. Participants pretty much shrugged off news that analysts at Standard & Poor's trimmed Portugal's debt rating another notch lower to BBB-, which is barely above junk status. They also cut Greece's rating two notches to BB-.

Participants were also dismissive of the March Consumer Confidence Index, which came in at 63.4 when the consensus among economists was for a reading of 65.0 following the upwardly revised reading of 72.0 for the prior month.

Telecom put together the best performance for the second straight session. Integrated plays led the sector to a 1.5% gain, which extended the 1.4% advance that it had staged on Monday.

Energy stocks swung to a 1.0% gain after they had lagged in the early going. Schlumberger (SLB 94.36, +3.93) was a top performer. Even its peer Halliburton (HAL 49.00, +1.10) staged a gain. In fact, the stock set a fresh 52-week high despite comments that production interruptions in the Middle East and North Africa could cut into earnings.

Elsewhere in the corporate sphere, home improvement retailer and Dow component Home Depot (HD 37.70, +1.05) announced an accelerated $1 billion share repurchase plan that won its shares considerable support. Fellow consumer discretionary play Phillips-Van Heusen (PHV 65.20, +5.03) posted an upside earnings surprise and issued strong guidance, which helped its shares spike to a three-month high. However, shares of homebuilder Lennar (LEN 19.07, -0.68) sank even though the company posted a surprise profit of its own.

Financials lagged for the entire session, but were helped to a 0.3% gain on the back of broader market support. Insurers had bogged down the sector for most of the session.

Treasuries turned lower amid the stock market's strength and generally uninspiring results from an auction of 5-year Notes. The auction drew a bid-to-cover of 2.79, dollar demand of $97.7 billion, and an indirect bidder participation rate of 42.4%.

The end of the first quarter is quickly approaching. That usually brings an increase in trading activity as money managers rebalance portfolios, but participation remains paltry ahead of the official monthly nonfarm payrolls report on Friday. Today's trading volume on the NYSE totaled just 800 million shares.

Commodities finished mixed today, with softs (-1.9%) posting the largest move to the downside, while grains (+0.9%) was the largest advancing sector. May cocoa shed 5.9% to close at $3,057 per metric ton, its lowest levels in two months, after rebels aligned with Ivory Coast President-elect Alassane Ouattara captured a key town that produces cocoa.

April gold finished lower by 0.2% to $1417.00 per ounce, while May silver shed 0.2% to end at $36.98 per ounce. Both precious metals bounced off of their respective lows throughout the session. They eventually eclipsed the flat line, but quickly sold off back into negative territory where they closed.

May natural gas, the new front month, extended its sell off to a second consecutive session after it closed lower by 3.6% to $4.27 per MMBtu. Forecasts for warmer weather, coupled with profit taking from its ~10% rally in the month of March, pressured prices. May crude oil ended higher by 0.8% to $104.79 per barrel.

Advancing Sectors: Telecom (+1.5%), Energy (+1.0%), Materials (+1.0%), Utilities (+0.9%), Consumer Discretionary (+0.9%), Industrials (+0.7%), Health Care (+0.6%), Tech (+0.6%), Consumer Staples (+0.4%), Financials (+0.3%)
Declining Sectors: (None)DJ30 +81.13 NASDAQ +26.21 NQ100 +1.0% R2K +0.9% SP400 +0.9% SP500 +9.25 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1756/1.62 bln/864 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2073/803 mln/924