YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: Resource-related stocks helped the broad market fight off early selling to stage its first gain in four sessions.

Losses in the previous three sessions and renewed weakness among the major markets abroad weighed on the early tone of trade. The latest durable goods orders data didn't help.

During April durable goods orders dropped 3.6% and orders less transportation fell 1.5%. Economists polled by Briefing.com had, on average, called for a 2.0% decline in overall orders and a 0.6% increase in orders less transportation, but the worse than expected results were met with only a mildly negative response since the sharp declines were largely attributable to a spike in orders during the prior month. During March overall orders climbed 4.4% while orders less transportation increased 2.5%.

Corporate news flow picked up a bit from the anemic pace of the past few sessions, but it failed to offer much encouragement to buyers. Announcements from retailers Express (EXPR 20.12, -2.75), American Eagle (AEO 13.02, -0.64), and Collective Brands (PSS 15.31, -3.06) featured either disappointing quarterly results or downside guidance.

Dow component Cisco (CSCO 16.19, -0.08) tempered its guidance in a quarterly filing. The stock extended its multi-month descent to its lowest level since the stock market was struck with fear of a global economic and financial system meltdown more than two years ago.

Despite such headwinds in the early going, the major equity averages were able to attract enough support to find higher ground. Small-cap stocks staged one of the sharpest climbs. They were able to overcome a slight loss in the early going and settle with a gain of more than 1%.

Within the broad market, natural resource plays provided the most leadership while many of the other sectors traded listlessly. Favor for the space helped energy stocks and materials stocks advance 1.5% and 1.4%, respectively.

Higher commodity prices helped resource-related issues. Oil prices were especially strong; they rallied from an opening loss on the order of about 1% to a 1.7% gain well above $101 per barrel in the face of bearish weekly inventory data. Silver prices staged one of the best moves with its near 4% rally to $37.56 per ounce.

The dollar did little today. It had been higher overnight against other currencies, but was backed down to the flat line during the day. It was largely held in check by Britain's sterling pound, which climbed 0.6% to $1.627 following the United Kingdom's final first quarter GDP reading, which indicated that its economy expanded by 0.5%, as had been reported in the preliminary reading.

July crude oil rallied for 1.7% to settle at $101.32 per barrel, through the top end of its recent range. Despite this morning's inventory data, which showed a modest build vs expectations for a draw down, an unexpected draw down in distillates helped futures trade to their best levels in 2 weeks. It was an uneventful session for June natural gas, which finished up 0.7% to $4.38 per MMBtu.

July silver extended its rally to a second session, finishing higher by 3.9% to $37.56 per ounce. It has now gained over $2.50 in the past two sessions and is trading back at levels seen in mid-May. June gold ended up 0.2% to close at $1526.40 per ounce. After trading to its best levels since early May, at $1532.50, it sold off back toward the flat line to finish with modest gains.

Advancing Sectors: Energy (+1.5%), Materials (+1.4%), Industrials (+0.8%), Tech (+0.5%), Health Care (+0.1%), Financials (+0.1%)
Unchanged: Consumer Discretionary
Declining Sectors: Utilities (-0.3%), Consumer Staples (-0.7%), Telecom (-0.7%)DJ30 +38.45 NASDAQ +15.22 NQ100 +0.3% R2K +1.3% SP400 +0.7% SP500 +4.19 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1713/1.90 bln/876 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1961/963 mln/1031