YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: The major market averages closed just off their worst levels of the session, unable to hold their midday gains. The Dow (-0.7%) paced today's decline with the S&P (-0.4%) and Nasdaq (-0.1%) faring a little better.

Netflix (NFLX 266.91, -14.62) closed lower by 5.2% after beating by $0.14 in the second quarter, but on slightly weaker-than-expected revenues of $788.6 million (Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $791.2 million). The co issued downside third quarter guidance, seeing earnings per share of $0.72-1.07 (consensus $1.08), revenues of $799.5-828.5 million (Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $845.6 million) and domestic operating margin of 13.6%. The weak guidance was attributed to the negative price impact of the its decision to separate DVD by mail and streaming.

Steelmaker AK Steel (AKS 12.81, -2.71) ended down 17.5% after posting disappointing third quarter results. The company missed the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.49 per share by $0.17 and saw revenues climb 12.3% YoY to $1.79 billion. However, that number was short of the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $1.81 billion. As for the third quarter, the company expects shipments to be between 1.4-1.45 million tons with an average per-ton selling price lower by about 1.0%. It also expects raw material costs to tick higher from the previous quarter. Shares of competitor United States Steel Corp. (X 40.62, -3.67) lost 8.3%.

Broadcom (BRCM 38.20, +3.29) gained 9.4% after posting earnings per share of $0.72 which topped the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.63. Revenues jumped 12.5% YoY to $1.8 billion which was in-line with forecasts. Product gross margin was 51.1%. Looking ahead to the third quarter the company sees revenues climbing to a range of $1.90-2.0 billion with the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate at $1.93 billion. Several firms came out today and upgraded the stock after yesterday's results.

Food Retailer SuperValu (SVU 9.11, +0.59) added 6.9% today after reporting earnings per share of $0.35 which were better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.33. Revenues posted a slight miss, falling 3.7% YoY to $11.11 billion (Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $11.16 billion). The company reaffirmed its full year 2012 forecast in which it sees revenues of $37 billion versus the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $36.04 billion.

Shares of Simon Property Group (SPG 122.39, +1.92) hit their best level since February 2007, and are just off their all-time highs after announcing earnings of $1.65 per share which was better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $1.58 per share. Revenues rose 11.5% YoY to $1.04 billion to slightly better the $1 billion consensus. The property group issued in-line guidance for full year 2011 saying it expects earnings per share of $6.65-6.73 versus the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $6.71 per share.

Treasuries finished at their best levels of the session after the $35 billion 2-yr note auction saw solid but not spectacular results. The auction drew 0.417% and saw a 3.14x bid/cover (3.37x 12-auction average) as indirect bidders took down just 27.7% of the offering. Direct bidders showed up in force, taking down 20.0% of the auction (14.6% 12-auction average). The 10-yr yield ended the day near 2.95% after seeing an overnight high of 3.04%.

It was a more subdued session for commodities today, with very few new headlines out to create volatility in the markets. August gold finished higher by 0.3% to $1617.20 per ounce, while Sept silver gained 1.1% to end at $40.80 per ounce. Both metals spent the majority of the session chopping around the unchanged line, but managed to trade into positive territory with approximately thirty minutes left in pit trade to end with modest gains. In afterhours trade, both metals have ticked to fresh highs after headlines crossed indicating that the President will veto Boehner's debt plan should it reach his desk.

It was a somewhat confusing session for Sept crude oil, which settled higher by 0.4% to $99.59 per barrel. After several failed attempts to trade above the $100 level in morning trade, crude oil sold off into negative territory, dropping over 2 points to session lows at $97.76. However, that weakness was short lived as crude rallied off those lows, back into positive territory and to fresh highs at $100.62; it best levels since June 10. Sept natural gas finished lower by 0.5% to $4.33 per MMBtu.

The dollar index ended the day near its worst levels of the session, hammered lower by the little progress that has been made in the debt ceiling talks. A gain of 140 pips pushed the euro through the 1.45 level and to its best close since July 4. The Swiss franc punctured the .8000 level for the first time ever as it remains the currency of choice among participants. Other notable movers included the yen which strengthened to better than 78 per dollar and the Canadian dollar which hit a 3.5-yr high against the greenback.DJ30 -91.50 NASDAQ -2.84 SP500 -5.49 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 889/1.69 bln/1683 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1035/837.4 mln/1965