YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: Broad-based buying drove stocks to a near two-week high. Stocks now head into Friday sporting a week-to-date gain of about 2%.

Traders were dealt another large batch of better-than-expected earnings results (a complete list can be viewed on Briefing's Earnings Calendar), but that didn't do much to stimulate broad market buying interest ahead of the open. Meanwhile, a muted response was made to news that initial jobless claims for the week ended July 16 totaled 418,000, which is up from the prior week's tally of 408,000 and greater than the 411,000 initial claims that had been widely expected.

However, word that a deal to restore Greece's economy has been drafted helped stir buying interest shortly before the open. The news also drove the euro upward and the dollar downward. At the end of the trading day, the Dollar Index was quoted with a 0.8% loss, which puts it on pace for a 1.3% weekly loss.

A Philadelphia Fed Survey reading of 3.20 for July provided stocks with another boost, given that the consensus among economists polled by Brieifng.com had called for a reading of 0.00 after the -7.70 that was posted for the prior month.

Although buying was broad, financials outperformed for virtually the entire session. The sector's 2.5% gain, which comes on top of its 1.1% advance in the prior session, was led by Morgan Stanley (MS 24.20, +2.48). Its 11% surge to a seven-week high came after the investment bank and brokerage outfit reported a narrower loss than had been expected for the latest quarter.

Tech stocks traded as relative laggards just about all session. The sector, which ended the day with a 0.5% gain, was hampered by weakness in F5 Networks (FFIV 98.88, -12.56), which sold off in spite of an upside earnings surprise. Many investors were displeased that after such a feat the firm issued an in-line forecast. Meanwhile, tech giant Microsoft (MSFT 27.09, +0.03) mustered a minor gain ahead of its quarterly report.

Stocks experienced some mid-afternoon volatility in response to headlines that suggested officials moved closer to a deal on the U.S. debt ceiling. The announcement was quickly contradicted by Press Secretary Carney in a comment to CNBC, though. Stocks eventually settled into a narrow trading range that left the S&P 500 to dance along the 1345 line for the final couple of hours.

The afternoon crawl may have lacked excitement, but it enabled stocks to maintain their gains. In turn, the broad market heads into Friday with a week-to-date gain of 2.1%, which would offset the 2.1% slide that was suffered last week.

Treasuries turned lower in response to the stock market's strength. The slide in prices lifted the yield on the benchmark 10-year Note back above 3.00% for the first time in a week.

Among commodities, oil outperformed today. The energy component put together a 0.7% gain to settle at $99.13 per barrel. It had been up above $100 per barrel at its session high, however.

Natural gas started the session with a strong gain, but was backed down in response to a surprise build in weekly inventories. Contracts closed pit trade with natural gas priced at $4.39 per MMbtu for a 2.2% loss.

Precious metals prices were also up this morning, but rolled over to finish in the red. Specifically, gold prices closed at $1587.50 per ounce for a 0.6% loss. Silver settled at $39.09 per ounce for a 1.2% loss. Session highs were set above $1600 and $40 per ounce, respectively.

Advancing Sectors: Financials +2.5%, Energy +2.0%, Industrials +1.5%, Health Care +1.5%, Utilities +1.5%, Consumer Discretionary +1.2%, Materials +1.2%, Consumer Staples +0.7%, Tech +0.5%, Telecom +0.5%
Declining Sectors: NoneDJ30 +152.50 NASDAQ +20.20 NQ100 +0.7% R2K +1.1% SP400 +1.0% SP500 +17.96 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1759/969 mln/826 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2439/2.38 bln/610