YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: There were a handful of catalysts for trade this session, but ultimately it was a bounce by the greenback that sent stocks reeling from fresh 52-week highs.

The early mood among market participants was positive after it was learned that Dubai's government will give $9.5 billion in new funding to support the restructuring of Dubai World and developer Nakheel. Meanwhile, concerns about the fiscal health of Greece were allayed by word that the European Central Bank will alter rules on collateral and keep the credit threshold in its liquidity providing operations at BBB- beyond 2010. Such moves would assist Greece's efforts to borrow.

In the afternoon it was reported by Dow Jones that an aid package of 23 billion euros for Greece was discussed at a summit of European leaders. Reuters reported that the eurozone is ready to contribute bilateral loans to Greece and shoulder two-thirds of an aid package. The International Monetary Fund would take up the balance of such a package.

Once the afternoon announcements started to circulate the euro began to weaken. That helped win support for the U.S. dollar, which had been down as much as 0.5% against a basket of foreign currencies, but it settled the session with a 0.2% gain as it made its way to a new 10-month high.

The dollar's turnaround stirred profit-takers to action. Prior to their flurry, each of the three major indices had ascended more than 1% to fresh 52-week highs.

Financials had been a primary source of strength. As a group financials were up as much as 2.5% as bank stocks and diversified financial services plays attracted buyers, but the sector faltered and finished with a much more moderate gain of 0.4%.

Materials stocks were hit especially hard by the greenback's bounce. The sector was up 0.8% at its session high, but fell to a 2.0% loss.

While the broader market surrendered all of its gains, better-than-expected earnings from Best Buy (BBY 42.66, +1.48) helped retailers remain strong into the close -- retailers finished with a 1.2% gain, collectively.

Qualcomm (QCOM 42.14, +1.95) won support for itself after it increased its earnings outlook. It couldn't keep the Nasdaq from rolling over, though.

Treasuries put in another weak session. Pressure intensified after a $32 billion auction of 7-year Notes drew a yield of roughly 3.37% and a bid-to-cover of 2.61 with an indirect bid of 41.9%. The average bid-to-cover ratio in previous auctions stood at 2.72 and the average indirect bid average stood at 54.4%. As Treasuries weakened in the wake of the auction the yield on the benchmark 10-year Note climbed above 3.90% for the first time since January, but the Note pared its losses as sellers mounted an effort against stocks.

Economic data was limited news that initial jobless claims for the week ended Mar. 20 totaled 442,000, which was a bit less than the expected total of 450,000 and down 14,000 from the prior week. Continuing claims came in at 4.65 million, which was more than the 4.56 million continuing claims that had been expected, but down roughly 54,000 week-over-week.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke gave a testimony to the House Financial Services Committee regarding the Fed's exit strategy from the extraordinary measures taken to revitalize the U.S. economy. No striking plans were revealed no were any new clues regarding the outlook for interest rates.

The dollar broke into positive territory after reversing its early losses as the Euro broke down amid numerous Greek rescue headlines. In turn, commodities pared their early gains.

Precious metals held on to minor gains despite the dollar's recovery. April gold closed 0.4% higher at $1090.90 per ounce. May silver closed 0.6% higher at $16.74 per ounce.

April natural gas sold off in the morning ahead of its inventory report this morning. It hit closed 2.9% lower at $3.99 per MMBtu. Natural Gas futures are now at 6-month lows.

Crude oil futures trended higher throughout the session but faded after hitting resistance at the $81.50 level. It closed fractionally lower at $80.53 per barrel.

Advancing Sectors: Consumer Discretionary (+0.5%), Financials (+0.4%), Tech (+0.3%)
Declining Sectors: Materials (-2.0%), Energy (-1.5%), Telecom (-0.9%), Utilities (-0.7%), Health Care (-0.5%), Industrials (-0.2%)
Unchanged: Consumer Staples DJ30 +5.06 NASDAQ -1.35 NQ100 -0.1% R2K -0.7% SP400 -0.7% SP500 -1.99 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 989/2.59 bln/1655 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1256/1.15 bln/1779