YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: The major averages finished at session highs as investors gobbled up shares on the prospects of more quantitative easing by the Fed after this morning’s initial claims and PPI data fell short of estimates. The data, coupled with last night’s speech by Fed Vice Chair Janet Yellen, in which she suggested keeping the Fed Funds Rate close to zero through late 2015 would cause unemployment to decline at a quicker rate, provided a bullish tone for today’s session.

Gold miners saw strong gains as the precious metal jumped 1.0% to $1677 per ounce on the renewed prospects of more quantitative easing. Barrick Gold (ABX 42.20, +1.16) and Newmont Mining (NEM 49.54, +1.54) were among the top performers in the space.

Shares of Google (GOOG 651.01, +15.05) rallied +2.4% as traders bid the stock up ahead of its earnings.

JP Morgan Chase (JPM 44.84, +0.83) and Wells Fargo (WFC 34.02, +0.40) will give investors a glimpse at financial earnings for the quarter as both companies are scheduled to release their first quarter results ahead of tomorrow’s opening bell. The Capital IQ Consensus Estimates are expecting earnings per share of $1.17 at JP Morgan Chase and $0.73 at Wells Fargo.

Tractor Supply (TSCO 97.95, +5.65) gained 6.1% after issuing upside guidance for the first quarter. The company projects earnings per share of $0.53-$0.55 which is well above the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.31 per share. Strong same store sales figures are credited for the boost in guidance as the early start to spring pulled sales forward and will provide an estimated benefit of $0.09 to $0.11 per share. 

Wabtec (WAB 76.36, +5.06) rose 7.1% after issuing upside guidance for the first quarter. The company projects earnings per share of $1.20 which is well above the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $1.03. Wabtec also boosted its guidance for fiscal year 2012, saying it now expects to earn $4.80 per share versus its previous estimate of $4.30. Strength in the global freight rail market, including demand for new freight cars and locomotives, was cited for the positive guidance.

Avid Technology (AVID 8.50, -1.78) lost -17.3% after issuing downside guidance for first quarter revenues. The company is now calling for revenues of $152 million ($161.1 million Capital IQ Consensus Estimate), saying the shortfall is due to weaker demand in the creative enthusiast portion of its business. That number would represent a 30% decline in revenues on a year over year basis.  

The Treasury complex closed lower, but off its worst levels after seeing midday gains following this afternoon's $13 billion 30-yr bond reopening. The auction drew 3.230% and saw a better than average 2.76x bid/cover. The 10-yr finished with a loss of 4/32 which made for a rise of almost three basis points in yield to 2.049%. Today's selling swung the yield curve steeper as the 2-10-yr spread widened to 178 basis points.

Crude oil climbed to a session high of $104.24 per barrel in morning trade before pulling back and spending the remainder of the session chopping around between $103.00 and $104.00 per barrel. The energy component managed to book a gain of 1.0% for the session as it closed at $103.69 per barrel. Natural gas started morning pit trade near the unchanged line, but popped to a session high of $2.06 per MMBtu in response to inventory data that showed a build of 8 bcf when a build of 20 bcf was anticipated. However, the move was short-lived as natural gas quickly gave up all of its gains. The energy component closed flat at $1.98 per MMBtu. Precious metals trended higher on continued weakness in the dollar with the biggest gains coming early in the session. Both gold and silver closed just below their respective session highs of $1680.30 per ounce and $32.58 per ounce. Gold settled with a 1.3% gain at $1681.00 per ounce and silver closed 3.2% higher at $32.53 per ounce

Friday's data is the most anticipated of the week as CPI and core CPI will cross the wires at 8:30 am ET, and will be followed by Michigan Sentiment at 9:55 am ET.DJ30 +181.04 NASDAQ +39.09 SP500 +18.86 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1860/1.42 bln/640 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2494/754.8 mln/555