YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: Equities spent the majority of today's session within points of the unchanged line. The August consumer confidence report printed at 60.6, which was the lowest level in nine months. Following the report, stocks briefly turned lower before snapping back to the unchanged line where they held for the remainder of the session.

In other economic news, the June Case-Shiller 20-city Home Price Index rose by 0.5% while a 0.3% decline had been generally expected.

The Dow Jones Transportation Average continued its recent streak of underperformance as the group shed 0.2%. Airline stocks showed the most weakness with Delta Air Lines (DAL 8.68, -0.38) down 4.0% while JetBlue Airways (JBLU 4.89, -0.13) and United Continental Holdings (UAL 18.53, -0.49) both slipped 2.6%. Meanwhile, trucking company Landstar System (LSTR 49.52, +0.65) added 1.3% as it was the only notable advancer in the group.

Coal stocks were down today as the Market Vectors Coal ETF (KOL 23.15, -0.29) ended lower by 1.2%. Elsewhere, Joy Global (JOY 53.07, -1.30) dropped 2.4% while Arch Coal (ACI 6.21, -0.17) and Peabody Energy (BTU 22.36, -0.44) dipped near 2.0% each. The declines did not appear to be news-driven. Instead, the individual names traded lower on industry-wide weakness.

The materials sector was among the weakest performers. Steelmaker AK Steel (AKS 5.23, -0.42) slumped 7.4% after UBS downgraded the stock from ‘neutral' to ‘sell' and lowered the price target from $5.50 to $4.00. Peers ArcelorMittal (MT 15.08, -0.19) and United States Steel (X 20.43, -0.18) are down between 0.8% and 1.2%.

Poultry producer Sanderson Farms (SAFM 44.05, +3.46) surged 8.5% after delivering mixed results which showed a beat on revenues and a slight earnings miss. The company cautioned against higher grain prices putting pressure on input costs, and said they will run plants at six percent below capacity until conditions improve. Peers Pilgrim's Pride (PPC 5.29, +0.36) and Tyson Foods (TSN 15.62, +0.68) ended higher by 7.3% and 4.6%, respectively.

Luxury goods maker Movado (MOV 35.36, +5.25) soared 17.4% after beating earnings expectations by $0.14 a share. The quarterly report was mixed as the company missed on revenues, but raised their full-year 2013 guidance. Two more producers of luxury goods were firmly higher before reporting their earnings tomorrow morning. Jos. A Bank (JOSB 41.63, +1.41) advanced by 3.5% while Zale (ZLC 4.12, +0.29) jumped 7.6%.

Crude oil rose in today's pit trade as Hurricane Isaac poses concerns over production in the Gulf of Mexico. The U.S. Department of Interior's Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement now estimates that ~ 93.28% of the current daily oil production in the Gulf of Mexico has been shut-in. The energy component fell to a session low of $95.43 per barrel in morning action but quickly recovered. It ultimately settled 0.8% higher at $96.31 per barrel, just below its session high of $96.45 per barrel.

Natural gas climbed to a floor session high of $2.68 per MMBtu but gave up the gain as it fell into negative territory in afternoon action. It closed 1.5% lower at its session low of $2.61 per MMBtu despite estimates that ~ 66.7% of the current daily natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico has been shut-in due to Isaac.

Precious metals spent their entire floor sessions in the red despite a decline in the dollar index. Gold touched a session low of $1664.60 per ounce moments after pit trade opened but found buying support following lower-than-anticipated Consumer Confidence Index data.

The yellow metal climbed as high as $1674.40 per ounce but a slight pull-back heading into the close had prices settle 0.4% lower at $1669.60 per ounce. Silver dipped to a session low of $30.65 per ounce but also managed to erase some of the loss as it closed with a 0.5% loss at $30.88 per ounce

Investors will look to a full slate of economic data tomorrow. The MBA Mortgage Index will be reported at 7 AM ET while GDP-second estimate will cross the wires at 8:30 AM ET. In addition, pending home sales will be announced at 10 AM ET, and the Fed's Beige Book for August will be released at 2 PM ET.DJ30 -21.68 NASDAQ +3.95 SP500 -1.14 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1435/1.32 bln/995 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1671/516.7 mln/1292