YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: The Dow ended the day with a gain of almost 150 points, but that is actually only half of what it had sported just a couple of hours prior to the close.

Stocks got a nice pop at the open as market participants took their cues from Europe, where the major bourses bounced to gains that ranged from 4% to almost 6% amid hope that plans are being crafted to help restore the region's fiscal and financial conditions. That also helped drive the euro up sharply, although its gain petered out into the close. Still, the euro ended the day 0.6% higher than where it began.

Broad-based buying had the stock market up almost 3% at its session high, but traders began to lean on stocks late in the session. Selling accelerated into the close, but a bit of buying in the final minutes kept stocks from settling at their session lows.

Financials fell the hardest. The sector had been up more than 3% before its break down took it into negative territory. The sector managed to work its way back to a modest gain of 0.4%. Goldman Sachs (GS 99.55, +0.41) managed to eke out such a gain despite word that influential analyst Meredith Whitney cut her earnings estimate on the stock.

Materials managed to hold their position as the day's best performers. The sector scored a 2% gain as traders reacted to a stronger stock market and a jump in commodity prices, which took the CRB Commodity Index to a 2.7% gain.

Walgreen Co. (WAG 33.77, -2.26) was one of only a handful of names making announcements ahead of trade. The company's better-than-expected earnings were shrugged off due to the lack of progress in its negotiations with Express Scripts (ESRX 39.68, +0.36).

Today's pit trade saw precious metals post gains for the first time in four sessions. Specifically, gold prices gained 3.6% to settle the session at $1652.50 per ounce, while silver settled at $31.50 per ounce for a 5.1% gain.

Oil prices closed pit trade at $84.45 per barrel for a 5.2% gain. That marked the commodity's strongest single-session performance in four months. Natural gas prices climbed 1.3% to $3.83 per MMbtu.

Overall strength in the commodity complex helped take the CRB Commodity Index 2.7% higher for the day. Just last week the CRB set a 2011 low.

Advancing Sectors: Materials +2.1%, Industrials +1.6%, Energy +1.5%, Health Care +1.5%, Telecom +1.2%, Tech +1.1%, Consumer Discretionary +0.8%, Consumer Staples +0.6%, Financials +0.4%, Utilities +0.3%
Declining Sectors: (None)DJ30 +146.83 NASDAQ +30.14 NQ100 +0.9% R2K +2.2% SP400 +3.7% SP500 +12.43 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1966/2.10 bln/659 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2510/1.19 bln/552