YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: Stocks closed off their worst levels of the session, bottoming around midday and moving higher throughout most of the afternoon trade. The Nasdaq was the best performer closing fractionally higher while the Dow lagged, falling 0.6%.

The utilities sector outperformed, finishing higher by 0.2%. Within the sector, NextEra Energy (NEE 53.26, +1.42), PG&E Corp (PCG 45.85, +0.75), and Southern Company (SO 35.79, +0.30) were among the biggest gainers.

Energy stocks lagged with the sector closing down 1.2%. Denbury Resources (DNR 14.68, -0.54), Nabors Industries (NBR 16.53, -0.65), and Halliburton (HAL 27.82, -0.74) were among the biggest decliners in the space.

Semiconductors closed up 0.4% thanks to leadership from Marvell (MRVL 16.16, +1.25) which reported in-line earnings for the latest quarter, and announced a $500 million share repurchase program.

Elsewhere in the tech space, Hewlett-Packard (HPQ 39.84, -0.92) reported earnings that were in-line with their pre-announcement that occurred when former CEO Mark Hurd resigned. Meanwhile, Dell (DELL 12.08, +0.04) saw little movement in shares following an upside earnings surprise and a reaffirmed outlook.

Treasuries saw early interest with the 2-yr yield falling near 0.45%, another record low, while the 10-yr yield fell to a 15-month low of 2.53%. By the end of the session, treasuries turned their gains into losses with the 10-yr ending the day yielding 2.609%.

The dollar index reached its best level since late July, crossing 83.30 before selling off to the 83.00 area. The dollar strength pushed the euro to a low of 1.2664 before it saw a bounce north of 1.2700. The yen traded near 85.30 for much of the overnight session, but weakened to the 85.80 area as the U.S. trading day dragged on.

Energy (-1.2%) and precious metals (-1.2%) lead the commodities sector lower today. Oct crude oil futures finished lower by 1.3% to $73.85 per barrel. Crude was once again marred by concerns about the economy and finished the session in the red for the third consecutive day and for the eighth session in 9 days. Sept natural gas shed 1.5% to close at $4.11 per MMBtu. It traded to its lowest levels in close to three months weighed on by bearish fundamentals.

Dec gold futures shed 0.5% to finish at $1228.80 per ounce, while Sept silver dropped 2% to end at $17.99 per ounce. Strength in the dollar index weighed on both precious metals.

Volume was strong for a Friday in August due to today's options expiration. More than 1.12 billion shares changed hands on the floor of the NYSE. DJ30 -57.59 NASDAQ +0.81 SP500 -3.94 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1272/1.90 bln/1721 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1231/1.12 bln/1721