YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: Stocks finished near session highs as the recent flight into risk produced the third day of gains in the past four. Today’s 0.7% advance has the S&P 500 back near its early July highs and 8.5% above the June 1 low. The Nasdaq was the top performer among the major averages, ending the day with up 1.1%.   

The Fed’s Beige Book was released this afternoon and suggested “overall economic activity continued to expand at a modest to moderate pace in June and early July.” Excerpts from the Beige Book hinted that reports on residential housing were “largely positive” and drought caused “stress to crops and livestock” while indicating employment grew at a “tepid pace.”

Earnings season is now in high gear with Intel (INTC 26.21, +0.83) and financials dominating the landscape over the past 18 hours. Results from financials have been 'better than feared,' but it is notable that the group was a laggard. Bank of America (BAC 7.53, -0.39) beat on the bottom line but missed on revenues. This caused some selling in the stock as investors view the bottom line beat was due to cost cutting and not a strengthening of the business. Some other notable financials reporting included Bank of New York (BK 21.69, -0.03), Blackrock (BLK 175.05, -1.10), Credit Suisse (CS 18.35, +0.65), and U.S. Bancorp (USB 33.48, +0.53). 

Homebuilders finished in-line following this morning’s mixed housing starts and building permits data. The SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF (XHB 21.56, +0.14) gained 0.7% with action holding just below the almost four-year high set back in May. Pulte Group (PHM 10.80, -0.37) and KB Home (KBH 9.89, -0.06) saw relative underperformance.

Vivus (VVUS 29.00, +2.54) rose 9.6% after receiving Food & Drug Administration approval for its obesity drug Qsymia. The announcement has shares of Arena Pharmaceuticals (ARNA 9.98, -1.07) under pressure as the approval allows for competition with its obesity drug Belviq.

Proctor & Gamble (PG 64.82, +0.03) slumped to session lows after the Board of Directors announced it anonymously supports the recently disclosed plan to return the company to levels that “produce the best long-term value for shareholders” and Chief Executive Officer Bob McDonald as he leads the implementation of the plan. The stock was able to rebound off its worst levels and finish slightly in the green.

Treasuries finished with modest gains during what turned out to be a relatively quiet session. Yields in the belly of the curve saw the biggest declines with the 7-yr sliding 3.3 bps to 0.960% while a 2.2 bp decline dropped the 10-yr yield to 1.479%. Little change along the yield curve saw the 2-10-yr spread hold at 126 bps.

Crude oil found buying support during today’s pit trade on a number of catalysts that included tension in Syria, better-than-anticipated inventory data, and comments from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke that toned down the risk of a double-dip recession. Crude climbed out of negative territory and touched a session high of $90.04 per barrel. Although it pulled-back slightly in early afternoon action, it settled with a 0.9% gain at $89.89 per barrel.

Natural gas steadily climbed higher during its floor session. It popped to a session high of $3.02 per MMBtu but quickly corrected the move. Nevertheless, it settled pit trade 6.1% higher at $2.97 per MMBtu.

Gold and silver dipped to their respective floor session lows of $1567.20 per ounce and $26.85 per ounce following better-than-expected housing data. The metals then trended upwards to their session highs of $1582.90 per ounce for gold and $27.30 per ounce for silver as the dollar lost steam, but once again pulled-back in afternoon action. Gold settled pit trade 1.2% lower at $1570.70 per ounce while silver settled with a 1.0% loss at $27.08 per ounce.

Data concludes for the week tomorrow with initial and continuing claims crossing the wires at 8:30 AM ET and existing home sales, the Philly Fed, and leading indicators due out at 10 AM ET.   DJ30 +103.16 NASDAQ +32.56 SP500 +9.11 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1476/1.74 bln/1129 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1889/727.4 mln/1129