YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: Equities were broadly higher throughout the day before late afternoon selling sent the Nasdaq into negative territory. The dip also pushed the other indices lower, but they were able to hold most of their gains. The Dow finished higher by 0.5% while the Nasdaq ended flat.

The energy sector was the top performer as the SPDR Energy Select Sector ETF (XLE 73.91, +0.78) finished higher by 1.1%. Within the group, Halliburton (HAL 35.35, +1.08) added 3.2%, while Anadarko Petroleum (APC 71.62, +1.22) and National Oilwell Varco (NOV 83.13, +2.11) gained between 1.7% and 2.6%.

Solar stocks were broadly higher with the Guggenheim Solar ETF (TAN 17.52, +0.46) ending firmer by 2.7%. First Solar (FSLR 21.80, +1.01) rose 4.9% after signing a power purchase agreement with PG&E (PCG 43.32, -0.13) for 72 megawatts of solar electricity generated at two photovoltaic plants in central California. First Solar also announced that its Agua Caliente project achieved a peak generating capacity of 250 megawatts. Meanwhile, ReneSola (SOL 1.51, +0.09) jumped 6.3% after announcing the release of its Micro RePlus inverter module.

The financial sector outperformed the broader market. Within the space, Bank of America (BAC 9.03, +0.45) led the advancers with a 5.2% gain. Earlier today, Morgan Stanley (MS 17.25, +0.64) announced it will purchase the remainder of the Morgan Stanley Smith Barney stake held by Citigroup (C 32.66, +0.83). Morgan Stanley and Citigroup finished higher by 3.9% and 2.6% respectively.

European banks continued their recent rally as Deutsche Bank (DB 42.62, +2.44) added 6.1% after announcing plans to cut costs by EUR4.5 billion in order to improve its capital position. The stock is up 55.9% since its 52-week low was hit on July 25th. Other European financials were also stronger as Barclays (BCS 13.72, +0.62) and Banco Santander (7.84, +0.24) posted gains of 4.7% and 3.2%, respectively.

Apparel and luxury retailers were under pressure after Burberry cut its profit expectations for the second half of the fiscal year. The lower guidance clouded the outlook for companies with a similar line of business. Ralph Lauren (RL 156.22, -4.09) and Coach (COH 61.48, -1.12) slid 2.6% and 1.8%, respectively. Meanwhile, Fossil (FOSL 84.95, -0.92) and Tiffany (TIF 62.26, -0.78) both shed near 1.2%.

Chipmaker AMD (AMD 3.75, +0.28) surged 8.1% after announcing a strategic licensing agreement with provider of 3D technology, RealD (RLD 9.82, -0.15). In addition, AMD announced an investment in CiiNOW, a provider of cloud gaming technology.

Facebook (FB 19.43, +0.62) advanced 2.6% as Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg is scheduled to speak at the TechCrunch Disrupt Conference at 17:00 ET. This will be Mr. Zuckerberg's first public interview since the company's initial public offering in May.

Another company which began trading recently, Groupon (GRPN 4.61, +0.34) finished higher by 8.0% after a reported increase in site traffic during the month of August. Shares of the online deals site have rebounded slightly after marking an all-time low at $4.00 last week.

The trade deficit widened to $42.0 billion during July after a downwardly revised prior month deficit of $41.9 billion. Economists polled by Briefing.com had expected that the deficit for July would come in at $44.0 billion.
Crude oil chopped around in positive territory for its entire floor session. It popped to a session high of $97.39 per barrel and brushed a session low of $96.61 per barrel. It then traded in a fairly consolidative pattern and settled 0.5% higher at $97.04 per barrel.

Natural gas took off as pit trade opened and trended higher as the session progressed. It touched the $3.00 per MMBtu level in afternoon action and settled with a notable 6.4% gain at $2.99 per MMBtu.

Precious metals rallied in early morning pit action as the dollar index fell following Moody's warnings of a one notch downgrade of the U.S. However, both gold and silver were unable to hold on to the momentum and pulled-back in late morning and afternoon action.

Gold eased to a session low of $1732.80 per ounce shortly after touching a session high of $1740.50 per ounce and settled with a 0.2% gain at $1735.10 per ounce. Silver brushed a session high of $33.88 per ounce but gave up the gains and closed 0.1% lower at $33.58 per ounce.

Tomorrow's economic data shows the weekly MBA Mortgage Index will be released at 7:00 ET. Also, export prices ex-agriculture and import prices ex-oil will be reported at 8:30 ET while wholesale inventory data will hit the wires at 10:00.DJ30 +69.07 NASDAQ +0.51 SP500 +4.48 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1452/1.54 bln/994 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2027/667.1 mln/973