YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: Stocks rallied for rich gains in the latest round of trade. Although support was broad, tech proved pivotal in the overall performance.

Solid overnight gains among Asia's major averages and bounces between 2% and 3% by Europe's primary bourses provided a decidedly positive backdrop to morning trade. A series of successful debt offerings from Spain, Portugal, and Germany helped equities there. They also helped the euro rally to a 15-month high against the dollar.

The latest round of earnings results was generally strong. Intel (INTC 21.41, +1.55) scored one of the strongest gains of any blue chip following its upside earnings surprise and upside guidance. Its leadership lifted the Dow to its best level in more than two years and inspired other players in the other semiconductor space, such that the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index settled with a 4.3% gain.

Yahoo! (YHOO 16.87, +0.75) added to the overall strength of the tech sector, which is the largest by market weight, achieve a 2.4% gain. The Internet search company reported its own upside earnings surprise last evening. In contrast, IBM (IBM 164.75, -0.54) was one of the few tech-related issues that failed to find buyers, even though the company posted better-than-expected earnings. Apple (AAPL 342.41, +4.55) advanced nicely ahead of its latest quarterly report, but it was still a relative laggard in the tech-rich Nasdaq.

Pleasing quarterly results from Dow component United Technologies (UTX 85.90, +3.54) sent the stock to a new record high. Fellow Dow component AT&T (T 30.13, -0.18) failed to sustain an opening bid and, as a result, logged a loss.

Wells Fargo (WFC 28.83, -1.24) had slightly better than expected earnings, but disappointment over the bank's top line caused the stock to slump in the face of broad market strength. Weakness in WFC shares imbued the rest of the banking space, such that the KBW Bank Index logged a 0.5% loss.

Energy stocks staged a strong push higher in morning trade and then held steady to their gains in afternoon action. That secured a 2.2% gain for the sector. It was helped by a spike in oil prices, which settled at $111.45 per barrel with a 2.9% gain following a surprise draw in weekly inventories.

Renewed weakness in the dollar also aided oil's bounce. It offered support to precious metals prices, too. Gold prices pushed to a new all time high of $1506.50 per ounce and silver set a fresh 30-year high of $45.40 per ounce. Both gave back some of their gains so that they closed pit trade at $1489.90 per ounce and $44.68 per ounce, respectively.

Even though participants showed a willingness to return to risk, Treasuries suffered only relatively modest losses today. Still, the slip was enough to send the yield on the benchmark 10-year Note back up to 3.40%.

Data was limited to the existing home sales report for March. Existing home sales hit an annualized rate of 5.10 million units, which is slightly greater than the 5.00 million units that had been expected, on average, among economists polled by Briefing.com. The rate for March also reflects an increase from the prior month rate of 4.92 million units.

Commodities were given a boost today by a weak dollar. The energy sector was given a boost by the 2.9% rally in June crude oil, which settled at $111.45 per barrel. The weak dollar, coupled with this morning's bullish inventory data, pushed crude oil prices to their best levels in close to two weeks. May nautral gas finished up 1.1% to $4.31 per MMBtu, extending its rally to a second consecutive session. It has now bounced over 30 cents after recently testing the $4 level earlier this month.

The weak dollar pushed June gold to a new all time high at $1506.50 per ounce, and May silver to a fresh ~31 yr high at $45.40. Gold finished higher by 0.3% to $1489.90 per ounce, while silver ended up 2% to $44.68 per ounce, after both metals pulled back from their respective highs into the close of pit trade.

Advancing Sectors: Tech (+2.4%), Energy (+2.2%), Consumer Discretionary (+1.7%), Industrials (+1.5%), Materials (+1.2%), Utilities (+1.1%), Health Care (+0.9%), Consumer Staples (+0.6%), Telecom (+0.4%), Financials (+0.3%)
Declining Sectors: (None)DJ30 +186.79 NASDAQ +57.54 NQ100 +2.2% R2K +2.0% SP400 +1.8% SP500 +17.74 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 2001/2.10 bln/626 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2488/966 mln/510