YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: Stocks spent the better part of the session bobbing along the neutral line before a bout of buying interest induced a broad market bounce, but that move was ultimately countered by sellers.

An absence of economic data and material corporate announcement kept stocks close to the flat line for most of the session, at least until word surfaced that officials in Europe are considering an increase in the size of proposed firewalls. Stocks responded to the report by bouncing to a solid gain.

However, a lack of leadership left stocks unable to resist the late efforts of sellers, who were successful in sending the broad market back near the neutral line. The Dow did manage to hold on for a modest gain, thanks to strength among a few blue chips. The Nasdaq ultimately settled in the red after it had lagged all session.

Neither the dollar nor the euro did much today. As such, both finished flat.

Commodities managed to overcome early weakness, resulting in a 0.2% gain for the CRB Index. Silver led the effort by rallying to just above $32.75 per ounce for a gain greater than 1% after the precious metal had been down about 2% in early pit trade.

The lack of trading catalysts kept many on the sidelines, resulting paltry trading volume. Participation is likely to remain depressed tomorrow, given that the economic calendar remains without meaningful data. That will likely keep many focused on an upcoming announcement from the European Central Bank and the outcome of a eurozone summit.

It was a relatively quiet session for commodities today, although precious metals rallied throughout the latter portion of the session, recouping morning losses in the process. Gold, which ended lower by 0.2% at $1730.90 per ounce, came just shy of the unchanged mark and its session high of $1732.50. Silver futures, which closed a dime shy of its session high with a 1.2% gain at $32.77 per ounce, pushed into positive territory after they had been down about 2% this morning.

Crude oil closed up 0.3% at $101.28 per barrel after the energy component erased modest morning losses. Natural gas booked a 0.2% gain by finishing at $3.48 per MMBtu, shy of its session high of $3.51 per MMBtu, after fighting through morning selling pressure.

Advancing Sectors: Materials +0.8%, Health Care +0.5%, Telecom +0.3%, Consumer Staples +0.2%, Utilities +0.2%, Industrials +0.2%, Energy +0.1%
Unchanged: Tech
Declining Sectors: Financials -0.1%, Consumer Discretionary -0.2%DJ30 +52.30 NASDAQ -6.20 NQ100 -0.2% R2K +0.00% SP400 -0.3% SP500 +1.39 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1094/1.49 bln/1409 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1505/802 mln/1488