YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: Broad-based buying on the back of better-than-expected earnings took both the Dow and S&P 500 to their best level in almost three years. The Nasdaq actually extended its three-year high.

Although there is some uncertainty about what might be said in tomorrow's FOMC policy statement, market participants were in the mood to buy today. In turn, stocks were up more than 1% at session highs and advancing share volume was more than double declining share volume. Overall trading volume, about 900 million shares on the NYSE, still wasn't very impressive, though.

Buying interest was generally broad, but industrial stocks put together some of the best gains. The sector's 1.8% surge was led by Illinois Tool Works (ITW 57.73, +3.32), which posted an upside earnings surprise then complemented the report by issuing a strong revenue forecast. The stock surged to a new three-year high in response. In a similar vein, 3M (MMM 95.94, +1.82) shares recorded a new all-time high following its quarterly results and increased forecast.

Strong guidance, the implementation of a $0.25 cash dividend, and the designation of $1 billion for share repurchases made Humana (HUM 76.69, +4.01) a top performer. Its leadership spread to other managed care providers and propped up the overall health care sector, which achieved a 1.1% gain.

UPS (UPS 74.30, +0.66) benefited from a nice bid on the back of its latest quarterly report and forecast. Ford (F 15.66, +0.12) also found favor following its latest quarterly announcement. Ford's Japanese competitors Honda (HMC 37.61, -0.22), Toyota (TM 78.66, -0.85), and Nissan (NSANY 18.76, +0.31) received less favorable treatement amid news that their rating outlooks were lowered by analysts at S&P due to the impact of the massive earthquakes in Japan last month.

Airline stocks were some of today's top performers. Higher oil prices have weighed on the space in recent weeks, but the space ascended sharply with news that earnings from both Delta Air Lines (DAL 9.99, +0.99) and US Airways (LCC 8.80, +0.52) exceeded what had been expected on Wall Street.

Not every quarterly announcement was treated positively. Blue chip IBM (IBM 168.49, +0.82) mustered a modest gain, but actually lagged the overall market after it announced a 15% hike to its dividend and the designation of $8 billion for share repurchases. Fellow Dow component Coca-Cola (KO 66.93, -0.81) fell after its earnings came short of the consensus estimate.

Netflix (NFLX 228.91, -22.76) dropped precipitously in high volume to probe monthly lows as participants shunned the stock because of its disappointing forecast, which overshadowed an upside earnings surprise. Under Armour (UA 69.64, -8.83) also took a dramatic dive, even though the company reported richer-than-expected earnings and issued strong sales guidance.

Treasuries attracted buying interest in the face of the stock market's strength and a relatively unimpressive auction of 2-year Notes. The auction drew a bid-to-cover of 3.06, dollar demand of $107.1 billion, and an indirect bidder participation rate of 37.9%.

As for the dollar, it continues to descend against a basket of major foreign currencies. In turn, it logged a new 52-week low and was quoted with a 0.3% loss at the close of today's trade.

Commodities failed to benefit from the dollar's downturn. More specifically, oil prices settled with a 0.1% loss at $112.11 per barrel. Gold prices closed with a fractional loss at $1501.40 per ounce and silver settled with a 0.8% loss at $44.70 per ounce.

Commodities had a lackluster session today. As such, oil prices spent the day near the neutral line before they settled with a 0.1% loss at $112.11 per barrel. Natural gas prices spent most of the session in the red, but successfully staged a late recovery that gave it a flat finish at $4.39 per MMBtu.

Precious metals were unable to reclaim the gains that they forfeited in the prior session. In turn, gold prices closed with a fractional loss at $1501.40 per ounce. Meanwhile, silver settled with a 0.8% loss at $44.70 per ounce.

Commodities failed to benefit from the greenback's ongoing struggle. The dollar set a new 52-week low against a basket of major foreign currencies today; it was last quoted with a 0.3% loss.

Advancing Sectors: Industrials (+1.8%), Telecom (+1.5%), Energy (+1.2%), Health Care (+1.1%), Materials (+1.0%), Utilities (+0.9%), Tech (+0.8%), Financials (+0.6%), Consumer Staples (+0.6%), Consumer Discretionary (+0.3%)
Declining Sectors: (None)DJ30 +115.49 NASDAQ +21.66 NQ100 +0.5% R2K +1.0% SP400 +1.0% SP500 +11.99 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1648/2.06 bln/941 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2188/906 mln/837