YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: The stock market slid to a 2% loss in response to some disappointing GDP data and an absence of encouraging comments from Fed Chairman Bernanke, but the market has since rallied back to a gain of more than 1%.

Early traded was imbued by deteriorating sentiment in Europe, where many of the region's major bourses succumbed to sharp pressure before paring losses into their close. Selling interest increased with the release of the revised GDP data, which indicated that the U.S. economy expanded at a 1.0% pace during the second quarter. Economists polled by Briefing.com pegged second quarter growth at 1.1% after the preliminary report had suggested that the economy grew by 1.3%.

Selling pressure intensified in the opening minutes of trade, but session lows weren't set until shortly after Fed Chairman Bernanke issued a statement from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where members of the Fed recently wrapped up their latest meeting. Bernanke noted again that the economic recovery has been less robust than what had been hoped, but restated that the FOMC is prepared to employ tools as needed. The benefits and costs of additional stimulus were also discussed, but at this time the Fed appears to have no plans of making any changes to monetary policy.

Once stocks stabilized from the knee-jerk selling, a flurry of buying took stocks into positive territory. The stock market's ascent into afternoon trade was interrupted only by a few pauses. Stocks then spent the final few hours of the day drifting sideways near their daily highs.

Today's advance gave the stock market its fourth gain of the week, including an incremental advance of less than 0.1% on Monday. As a result, the S&P 500 scored a weekly gain of 4.7%, which was the stock market's first weekly advance in five weeks and its best weekly performance since a 5.6% weekly gain almost two months ago.

Tech stocks were primary drivers of today's advance. The sector's 2.3% advance was led by large-cap issues like Apple (AAPL 383.58, +9.86), which rallied to fully offset the loss that it suffered yesterday in response to news that the company's heralded CEO, Steve Jobs, plans to resign.

Although they lack the weight to be legitimate leaders, consumer discretionary stocks collectively climbed 2.1% in an impressive performance. Tiffany & Co. (TIF 69.01, +5.90) was a leader following its upside earnings surprise and strong forecast.

Amid the market's volatility in recent weeks, the relatively stable businesses and high dividend yields currently offered by utilities stocks and telecom stocks had made them favorites among investors, but the two sectors fell out of favor in the latest round of action. Utilities actually slipped to a 0.1% loss while telecom plays posted a mere gain of 0.2%.

That said, gold, which is widely considered the ultra safe haven, garnered strong buying interest. The precious metal climbed 2.0% during pit trade to about $1797 per ounce. It extended that move to more than $1812 per ounce in electronic trade.

The release of Chairman Bernanke's commentary for the Jackson Hole symposium caused quite a bit of volatility in commodities as the markets attempted to read into what his remarks mean. Dec gold, which finished higher by 2% to $1797.30 per ounce, saw swings of around 25 points immediately following the release. Eventually, however, futures were able to stabilize and began trending higher. They traded to their best levels of pit trade heading into the close, and have since extended their rally in after hours trade, notching fresh highs at $1812.60. Sept silver, which ended up 0.6% to $40.95 per ounce, experienced the same sharp swings as gold. It managed to end with modest gains after trading back and forth between positive and negative territory.

Oct crude oil finished higher by 0.1% to $85.37 per barrel. Futures sold off on the heels of the release of the Chairman's commentary, dropping to lows at $82.95. They were able to rebound off those lows to recoup losses in mid-morning trade and spent the remainder of the session chopping around the flat line. Sept natural gas ended near flat, as well, at $3.94 per MMBtu.

Advancing Sectors: Tech +2.3%, Consumer Discretionary +2.1%, Materials +2.1%, Industrials +1.9%, Energy +1.7%, Health Care +1.2%, Financials +1.0%, Consumer Staples +0.8%, Telecom +0.2%
Declining Sectors: Utilities -0.1%DJ30 +134.72 NASDAQ +60.22 NQ100 +2.6% R2K +2.6%% SP400 +2.7%% SP500 +17.53 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 2013/1.85 bln/548 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2532/1.12 bln/503