YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: Participants pared risk for the first part of the session, but a downturn by the dollar and strength among financials gradually boosted the broader market. Stocks were snared at the neutral line, though.

Selling pressure took stocks down markedly at midday. The drop actually put all three major equity averages at lowest level in almost a month. That stirred interest in Treasuries, such that the yield on the benchmark 10-year Note fell to a 2011 low around 3.10%.

Tech stocks were hit with some of the hardest selling interest. The sector slid to a loss of more than 1% as shares of Hewlett-Packard (HPQ 36.85, -2.94) dropped precipitously to a new 52-week low following a disappointing forecast, which completely overshadowed the company's upside earnings surprise for the latest quarter. The tech sector later cut its loss in afternoon trade; it finished just 0.2% lower for the day.

HP shares also took a heavy toll on the Dow, which lagged its counterparts for just about the entire day. Wal-Mart (WMT 55.54, -0.52) also weighed to the Blue Chip Index, although the company reported better-than-expected earnings for the latest quarter.

Data didn't do anything to motivate buying interest. April Industrial production was just posted. It was flat in the face of calls for a 0.5% increase. Capacity Utilization came in at 76.9%, which is less than the 77.7% that had been expected, on average, among economists surveyed by Briefing.com.

Housing starts for April hit an annualized rate of 523,000, but that is less than the rate of 563,000 units that had been expected, on average, among economists polled by Briefing.com. The April rate is also down from the prior month's rate of 585,000 units. Building permits fell to an annualized rate of 551,000 from 574,000 permits, but economists polled by Briefing.com had expected a rate closer to 590,000 permits.

The news hurt shares of homebuilders, which collectively fell to a 1.3% loss, according to the PHLX Housing Sector Index. However, home improvement retailer Home Depot (HD 37.40, +0.42) put together a strong gain following its latest quarterly report, which featured a better-than-expected bottom line.

Stocks gradually worked their way higher in afternoon action. The advance was helped along by a downturn the dollar, which fell to a 0.3% loss against a basket of major foreign currencies.

Financials were a source of leadership late in the day. The sector's 0.7% gain was largely owed to a bounce by bank stocks, which lifted the KBW Bank Index a 1.5% gain. Strength among financials comes after the sector had lagged last week.

Even though financials offered to lead the market higher and the dollar ended the day at its session low, buying lost momentum once the Nasdaq and S&P 500 came in contact with the neutral line. That left the two averages to trade sideways for the final hour of the day.

Trade in commodities was largely driven by movement in the dollar today. June crude oil settled lower by 0.5% to $96.91 per barrel. Earlier in the session, prices traded below the $96 support level to notch lows at $95.02. However a pullback in the dollar helped crude oil rebound off those lows to recoup most of its losses. June natural gas finished lower by 3.2% to $4.18 per MMBtu. It sold off to session lows at $4.16 in mid-morning trade and spent the remainder of the session chopping around those lows.

June gold finished lower by 0.7% to $1479.80 per ounce, while July silver shed 1.6% to end at $33.56 per ounce. Both metals sold off in morning trade as the dollar pushed higher. After trading to their respective lows, both metals were able to bounce modestly off of their respective lows to recoup some losses.

Advancing Sectors: Financials (+0.7%), Utilities (+0.7%), Consumer Staples (+0.3%), Telecom (+0.3%), Consumer Discretionary (+0.1%)
Unchanged: Health Care
Declining Sectors: Energy (-0.2%), Tech (-0.2%), Materials (-1.1%), Industrials (-1.3%)DJ30 -68.79 NASDAQ +0.90 NQ100 +0.2% R2K -0.3% SP400 -0.7% SP500 -0.49 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1063/2.20 bln/1538 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1306/930 mln/1772