YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: Late selling ate into gains, but the stock market still scored its sixth advance in seven sessions.

Stocks were bid higher in the early going as market participants continued to take their cues from Europe, where the region's major bourses resumed their uptrend amid speculation that Slovakia will eventually vote in favor of the EFSF. The decision by the country's officials to vote down the plan last evening came in conjunction with a vote of no confidence for the country's prime minister.

The belief that plans to improve financial conditions in Europe are moving closer to completion and implementation has helped diminish the perception of risk in the region. That has quelled concern about the exposure of diversified banks and financial services providers. In turn, financials were today's top performers.

Financials were out in front for the entire session, but surrendered some of their gains into the close. Still, the sector ended the day with a 2.7% gain. JPMorgan Chase (JPM 33.20, +0.90) garnered a great deal of buying interest ahead of its latest quarterly report tomorrow morning. Bank of America (BAC 6.58, +0.21) was also among the best performers, but it isn't scheduled to report until next week.

Last evening fellow blue chip Alcoa (AA 10.05, -0.25) announced its latest quarterly results, which came short of what Wall Street had commonly expected. The Dow component's announcement marked the unofficial start of earnings season.

Strength in shares of the two financial giants helped take the Dow above 11,600, which put it in positive territory for the year. However, late selling stole about 100 points from the blue chip average, so the Dow slid back to negative territory for the year.

The weak finish came after the S&P 500 stalled near its two-month closing high and the Dow failed to sustain enough momentum to move meaningfully above its own two-month closing high. Still, blue chips booked their fifth gain in seven sessions while the broader market booked its sixth gain in seven sessions. In that time the Dow is up more than 8%, but the S&P 500 is up almost 10%.

Market participants showed no real reaction to minutes from the most recent FOMC meeting, mostly because the minutes failed to offer any new insight into the mindset of the monetary policy setting committee.

Treasuries also showed little reaction to the FOMC minutes, but news of low dollar demand at the latest auction of 10-year Notes induced additional selling. The benchmark 10-year Note ended the day off of its lows, but its yield remained above 2.20%. That's more than 40 basis points above the depths that it probed less than 10 days ago.

The dollar extended its descent today, mostly driven by 1% gains by both the sterling pound and euro. Their climb has been underpinned by improved sentiment in the eurozone.

Crude oil futures ended their recent five session rally today after posting modest declines of 0.3% to end at $85.57 per barrel. Trade in crude oil was relatively quiet today as prices moved sideways around the flat line ahead of tomorrow’s inventory data. Natural gas ended lower by 3.5% at $3.49 per MMBtu. Prices were pressured by mild temperatures across the country, as well as bearish expectations for tomorrow’s inventory data.

After their initial rally in overnight trade, it was a relatively uneventful session for gold and silver futures. Both metals pulled back slowly from their respective highs throughout the morning session. Futures were able to halt that pull back heading into the afternoon and recoup some of their earlier gains. Gold ended higher by 1.3% at $1682.60 per ounce, while silver futures gained 2.4% to finish at $32.79 per ounce.

Advancing Sectors: Financials +2.7%, Industrials +1.3%, Consumer Discretionary +1.1%, Telecom +1.0%, Materials +1.0%, Consumer Staples +0.8%, Energy +0.8%, Tech +0.5%, Health Care +0.2%
Declining Sectors: Utilities -0.1%DJ30 +102.55 NASDAQ +21.70 NQ100 +0.5% R2K +1.7% SP400 +1.4% SP500 +11.71 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1881/1.96 bln/684 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2443/1.07 bln/603