YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: Stocks may have logged their third straight loss, but they managed to fight back from losses of more than 2% to finish the day at session highs.

Traders returned to action from a long, holiday weekend ready to sell. Their effort was rooted in the notion that soured sentiment among Europe's major bourses, some of which descended deeper into bear market territory today, was a tacit sign of rekindled concerns over the region's economic, fiscal, and financial conditions.

Those concerns caused all three major equity averages to descend more than 2% in the opening minutes of trade. Stocks received temporary relief from the August ISM Service Index, which improved to 53.3 from 52.7 to exceed the 51.0 that had been broadly anticipated among economists polled by Briefing.com.

Sellers redoubled their efforts shortly after the ISM's release, taking stocks to session lows. Buyers waded back in from there, but their resolve was tested late in the afternoon as some moved to close their positions for fear of further volatility. Stocks ultimately resumed their climb into the close.

The Nasdaq was most successful at slashing its loss. Amazon.com (AMZN 216.05, +6.05) and Apple (AAPL 379.74, +5.69) were primary leaders for the Nasdaq. Although the Dow more than halved its loss, it lagged its counterparts as financial plays like Bank of America (BAC 6.99, -0.26) remained under pressure until the close.

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ 64.64, +0.57) and Pfizer (PFE 18.65, +0.19) offered the Dow some support. The pair also helped the overall health care sector swing to a 0.3% gain after it had been down more than 3% early on. Health care represented the only major sector to score a gain.

In overnight trade, gold futures rallied to a new all-time high of $1923.70 per ounce, aided by news that the Swiss National Bank pegged the franc to the euro, as well as concerns about the state of global economies. Support for futures faded from there, though. As such, Dec gold closed with a 0.1% loss at $1872.30 per ounce. Dec silver, which shed 1.2% to settle at $41.87 per ounce, did not partake in the initial flight to safety; futures traded in negative territory throughout the session and finished just above lows of $41.60 per ounce.

Oct crude oil rallied into the close for about two points, which helped recoup losses. Despite that rally, crude oil was unable to trade into positive territory and finished lower by 0.5% to $86.02 per barrel. Oct natural gas rallied for 1.8% to close at $3.94 per MMBtu.

Advancing Sectors: Health Care +0.3%
Declining Sectors: Consumer Discretionary -0.4%, Consumer Staples -0.4%, Tech -0.5%, Utilities -0.6%, Materials -0.7%, Energy -1.1%, Telecom -1.1%, Industrials -1.2%, Financials -1.8% DJ30 -100.96 NASDAQ -6.50 NQ100 +0.00% R2K -0.4% SP400 -0.7% SP500 -8.73 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 886/1.74 bln/1681 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 814/1.12 bln/2213