YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: Stocks spent the first half of the session seeking direction, but they were able to move markedly higher after a 7-year Treasury Note auction went off without any surprises.

Concern that economic recovery efforts could by complicated by higher borrowing costs stemming from rising yields had market participants closely watching today's 7-year Treasury Note auction. The auction's bid-to-cover ratio came in just below 2.3, which was in-line with the past three auctions.

The lack of surprise helped take the benchmark 10-year Note 28 ticks higher after it had oscillated in the early going. The yield on the 10-year Note reached 2009 highs during the prior session; it currently stands at 3.64%, just shy of the 3.7% to 4.0% range that bond guru Bill Gross stated would mark an attractive entry point during a CNBC interview.

With Treasury yields moving off of their highs, stocks were able to put together a sustainable advance and nearly reverse the prior session's losses.

Gains were broad-based, but financials scored the best gains by advancing 3.6%.

Meanwhile, tech giant Microsoft (MSFT 20.45, +0.32) was a primary leader in the Nasdaq amid reports that the company is no longer in serious discussions with Yahoo! (YHOO 15.09, +0.15) to combine search efforts.

General Motors (GM 1.12, -0.03) made gains early on after the company announced that its bondholders accepted an amended debt-for-equity offering. However, it finished with a loss as investors continue to question whether the company will be able to avoid bankruptcy.

Shares of retailers (-1.3%) underperformed the broader market for the entire session. Home improvement retailers Home Depot (HD 22.70, -0.63) and Lowe's (LOW 19.02, -0.61) were primary laggards in the group after first quarter mortgage delinquencies clicked higher to 9.1%, threatening to add to housing inventory and depress building activity.

To that point, annualized new home sales for April came in near expectations, but the monthly change fell short of expectations.

In other economic news, April durable goods orders, both including and excluding transportation, topped expectations. However, March orders were revised markedly lower.

Continuing jobless claims continue climbing to record levels, most recently coming in close to 6.8 million. However, initial weekly claims came in at 623,000, suggesting that the pace of layoffs is slowing.

In commodities trading, oil prices settled 2.5% higher above $65 per barrel for the first time since November. The advance was helped along by bullish inventory data, which followed news that OPEC will hold production steady, as expected.

Gold prices closed at $960.80 per ounce, up 0.7%. Gold prices are now up more than 10% since hitting their 2009 lows in mid-April.DJ30 +103.78 NASDAQ +20.71 NQ100 +1.3% R2K +0.5% SP400 +0.8% SP500 +13.77 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1475/2.24 bln/1177 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2001/1.37 bln/1042