YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: Equities spent the majority of the session chopping around the unchanged line. The early morning volatility coincided with a Bloomberg TV report which indicated the European Central Bank bond purchase program is said to pledge unlimited, sterilized buying of bonds. However, the exuberance was short-lived as European Central Bank officials declined to comment, and reports out of Germany suggested Chancellor Angela Merkel would only support the program in the near-term. Afternoon trade was mostly quiet as the S&P 500 remained in a narrow range before closing lower by 0.1%.

The telecom sector got off to a strong start and maintained its gains throughout the day. Sprint (S 4.95, +0.15) advanced 3.1% as it outperformed other holdings within the iShares Dow Jones US Telecom ETF (IYZ 24.39, +0.13).

The Dow Jones Transportation Average continued its recent streak of underperformance; however, individual components within the group showed significant divergence. Shares of major airlines saw a relatively strong bid as United Continental Holdings (UAL 19.07, +0.97) led the major carriers with a 5.4% gain. Delta Air Lines (DAL 8.89, +0.33) added 3.9% after announcing August consolidated passenger unit revenue increased by 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. Meanwhile, companies specializing in logistics slipped after FedEx (FDX 85.80, -1.74) lowered its first quarter guidance, citing weaker global demand. FedEx shed 2.0% while UPS (UPS 71.94, -1.76) slid 2.4% and Con-way (CNW 29.97, -1.21) ended lower by 3.9%.

Financial stocks have traded mostly in-line with the broader market. However, several names diverged from the rest of the group. Goldman Sachs (GS 109.94, +3.53) was the best performer as it ended higher by 3.3%. On the downside, American Express (AXP 57.19, -1.42) dipped 2.2% as it trailed the other majors. Elsewhere, European financials were mostly higher with UBS (UBS 11.38, +0.29) and Credit Suisse (CS 19.24, +0.34) posting gains of 2.6% and 1.8%, respectively.

Restaurant operator Bloomin' Brands (BLMN 13.86, +0.41) advanced 3.1% after delivering its first earnings report as a publically traded company. The quarterly report showed second quarter earnings growth of 23.0% compared to the same period last year. Meanwhile, two names which began trading within the past twelve months also finished on a positive note. Facebook (FB 18.58, +0.85) closed higher by 4.8% after announcing Chief Executive Officer, Mark Zuckerberg, has no intention to sell any shares for at least twelve months. Meanwhile, Jefferies initiated coverage of the stock with a ‘buy' rating and a $30.00 price target. Zynga (ZNGA 2.92, +0.09) rose by 3.2% as it benefited from the strength in Facebook.

Nokia (NOK 2.38, -0.45) slumped 15.9% after the company unveiled its new Lumia 920 phone which features an improved camera and wireless charging capabilities. The phone is based on the Windows operating system, developed by Microsoft (MSFT 30.39, +0.01).

Productivity data for the second quarter showed an increase of 2.2%, which was an improvement over the 1.6% increase that had been reported in the preliminary reading. It is also better than the 1.8% increase that had been broadly expected. Unit labor costs for the first quarter were revised lower to reflect a 1.5% increase after they had reportedly increased by 1.7% in the preliminary reading. Economists polled by Briefing.com had expected that unit labor costs would tick down in the revised reading to reflect an increase of 1.4%.

A handful of economic data points will be released tomorrow. Challenger job cuts will be reported at 7:30 ET. ADP Employment Change is scheduled for an 8:15 ET release, while initial and continuing claims will hit the wires at 8:30 ET. The ISM Services report will top off the day's data at 10 ET.

Crude oil touched a session high of $95.72 per barrel as pit trade opened but plunged into the red and to a session low of $94.26 per barrel moments after trading in the equity markets began. Despite the fall, the energy component erased the losses and climbed back into the black by afternoon action. Crude then chopped around near the unchanged line and settled four cents higher at $95.38 per barrel.

Natural gas trended lower into negative territory after it brushed a pit session high of $2.84 per MMBtu in morning action. It fell as low as $2.78 per MMBtu just before it settled with a 2.1% loss at $2.80 per MMBtu.

Gold see-sawed between positive and negative territory in choppy fashion during today's pit trade. Action came ahead of tomorrow's anticipated ECB meeting. It touched a session low of $1691.50 per ounce and peaked at $1697.60 per ounce. The yellow metal eventually settled slightly lower with a 0.1% loss at $1694.20 per ounce. Silver brushed a session high of $32.43 per ounce in morning action but was unable to stay in positive territory. It spent the remainder of its session trading just below the unchanged level and settled 0.2% lower at $32.33 per ounce.

Also of note, the European Central Bank will announce its interest rate decision at 7:45 ET which will be followed by Mario Draghi's press conference at 8:30 ET. In addition, the Bank of England will opine tomorrow morning at 7:00 ET. The central bank is expected to keep both its benchmark interest rate and its asset purchase program steady at 0.50% and GBP375 billion.DJ30 +11.54 NASDAQ -5.79 SP500 -1.50 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1078/1.42 bln/1381 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1407/675.6 mln/1553