YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: The stock market turned a 1% loss into a 1% gain Tuesday. The swing wasn't inspired by any particular piece of news, but came gradually as sellers slowed their efforts in the face of technical support, which eventually gave way to short covering.

Stocks started the session under stiff pressure as another round of earnings results failed to inspire buyers. IBM (IBM 126.55, -3.24) was atop the list of disappointments as the company's top line came in lighter than many had expected and the company made an underwhelming increase to its earnings outlook. Those offenses overshadowed a better-than-expected bottom line.

In-line earnings left fellow tech outfit Texas Instruments (TXN 24.77, -0.78) without any support, though it issued upside guidance. A broadly improved tone among traders helped the rest of the semiconductor space finish flat after it had been down roughly 3% early on.

Health care stocks made up the only sector that failed to find higher ground by the session's end. Instead, the sector settled with a 0.2% loss. The group was dragged down after Dow component Johnson & Johnson (JNJ 58.58, -0.99) posted in-line earnings and issued a downside forecast.

Goldman Sachs (GS 148.91, +3.23) was able to attract renewed support after a weak start that came in response to broader market weakness and a muddled quarterly report that featured a smaller-than-expected revenue figure.

Materials stocks sprinted 2.9% higher to book the best gains. The sector was led by steel stocks and diversified metals and miners names, both of which advanced 5.6%. Such strength came after Moody's said that Japan's steel industry conditions are improving and analysts at UBS upgraded shares of Schnitzer Steel (SCHN 47.15, +4.79).

The broader market's climb spanned nearly the entire session. A base appeared to be made after the S&P 500 had retraced 50% of its move to recent highs and hit a key sloped support line.

Once stocks pushed into positive territory, many bets against the market had to be covered. Such short covering acted as a catalyst for the stock market's last leg higher.

A pullback by the greenback also provided some support to the broader market. It had been up 0.5% before it pulled back to the neutral line. However, it never did dip into negative territory and settled with a 0.2% gain against a basket of competing currencies.

Energy lead all sectors of the CRB Commodities Index higher today, with a 0.9% move to the upside. A reversal in the equity markets helped Sept crude oil futures extend their rally into the late afternoon session. They closed higher by 0.8% to $77.52 per barrel. Aug natural gas finished up 1.8% to $4.591 per MMBtu, after it traded back towards highs in an afternoon rally of its own.

Aug gold closed higher by 0.8% to $1191.70 per ounce, while Sept silver finished up 0.9% to $17.693 per ounce. Both precious metals traded to their best levels in morning trade and spent the remainder of the session chopping around just shy of their respective highs

The only data for the day featured a 5.0% month-over-month decline in housing starts for June. That took starts to an annualized rate of 549,000 units, which is below the annualized rate of 575,000 units that had been widely expected. In contrast, building permits for June increased 2.1% month-over-month to an annualized rate of 586,000, which is above the annualized rate of 572,000 units that had been widely expected.

Advancing Sectors: Materials (+2.9%), Energy (+1.9%), Industrials (+1.6%), Consumer Discretionary (+1.5%), Consumer Staples (+1.5%), Financials (+1.2%), Utilities (+0.8%), Tech (+0.8%), Telecom (+0.3%)
Advancing Sectors: Health Care (-0.2%) DJ30 +75.53 NASDAQ +24.26 NQ100 +1.2% R2K +1.8% SP400 +1.5% SP500 +12.23 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1841/1.95 bln/765 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2458/1.13 bln/559