YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: Stocks overcame morning selling pressure to stage a steady advance that continued into the close, giving stocks substantial gains. The move was broad based, but for the most part financials led the way.

Market participants bid stocks higher in the opening minutes of trade, but sentiment soured before long. Subsequent selling pressure came as traders shrugged off impressive gains by Europe's major bourses because of questions about how easily eurozone members can establish a unified political front capable of completing and implementing bailout plans.

A lack of follow through selling pressure enabled stocks to stabilize and even slowly work their way back to the flat line, but they bounded once it was reported that the prime minister of Italy will resign after the country's budget plans are passed into law. Concerns about the inability of the Italian government to shore up the country's precarious fiscal and financial conditions have driven the country's debt yields to record heights. There is currently no definitive reading on who will step in as prime minister of Italy, but Greece is expected to name Lucas Papademos to the position of prime minister.

The euro also bounced in response to the headlines about a new political makeup in Italy. At session's end the euro was up 0.6% to $1.384.

All 10 major sectors managed to score gains, but financials staged the strongest moves, scoring a collective a gain of nearly 2%. The financial sector's bounce actually marked a resumption of early leadership efforts. In the early going the sector was up well in excess of 1% before surrendering almost all of that gain amid broad market weakness.

Small-cap stocks and mid-cap stocks staged some sharp reversals of their own. Both the Russell 2000 and the S&P 400 were down in excess of 1% at their session lows, but settled with gains of about 1% or better.

The improved tone to afternoon trade helped push down the Volatility Index for the fifth day in a row. The VIX is still above its 10-day low, though.

It was, once again, a session focused mostly on the events taking place in the Eurozone. Precious metals rallied in mid-morning trade to their respective highs at $1804.40 and $35.35. Both metals finished just shy of those levels. Gold futures ended higher by 0.4% at $1799.20 per ounce, while silver finished up 0.9% at $35.15 per ounce. In afterhours trade both metals have sold off into negative territory following headlines that Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi will resign after the approval of the new budget law. A little clarity as to what will happen in Italy, moving forward, is taking some of the risk premium out of the markets.

Crude oil, which settled higher by 1.3% at $96.80 per barrel, rallied in the final hour of trade following the Berlusconi resignation news. Futures ended just shy of highs at $98.89. Worth pointing out is that crude oil futures did shake off the IAEA report, which indicated that Iran carried out work relevant for developing nuclear arm. Natural gas rallied heading into the close to finish up 1.4% at $3.75 per MMBtu.

Advancing Sectors: Financials +1.9%, Energy +1.4%, Tech +1.2%, Consumer Discretionary +1.1%, Materials +1.1%, Consumer Staples +1.0%, Industrials +1.0%, Health Care +0.9%, Utilities +0.5%, Telecom +0.3%
Declining Sectors: (None)DJ30 +101.79 NASDAQ +32.24 NQ100 +1.2% R2K +1.4% SP400 +1.0% SP500 +14.80 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1844/1.85 bln/717 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2231/879 mln/769