YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: Weakness underscored the first part of the session as little attention was given to the latest dose of economic data, but a positive tone emerged in afternoon trading as select financial stocks were squeezed higher and a sudden drop by the U.S. dollar helped lift energy and materials stocks. Their combined strength helped lead a midday recovery effort that gave the Dow its eighth straight advance, a feat that hasn't been accomplished in years.

The preliminary second quarter GDP report caused little stir among participants, though the headline number showed a better-than-expected 1.0% annualized decline, unchanged from the advance reading. Consumer spending during the second quarter also topped expectations by contracting 1.0%, which was an improvement from the 1.2% decline that was previously reported.

The latest batch of initial jobless claims came in 570,000, which is down 10,000 from the previous week and essentially in-line with expectations. Meanwhile, continuing claims came in at 6.13 million, below expectations and down more than 100,000 from the previous week as more unemployed workers lost their jobless benefits.

The reports neither drove selling pressure in the early going nor provided support to the broader market. Instead, the lack of drivers in the early going left stocks to slip in broad fashion so that all 10 major sectors traded with losses, but a short term floor offered support for stocks to rebound. The move from session lows was made easier by the lack of trading volume, which has exacerbated the market's ability to swing meaningfully despite a lack of catalysts in recent sessions.

Nonetheless, the emergence of buyers proved particularly beneficial to the financial sector, which swung from a loss of nearly 1% at its low to finish with a gain of 1.0%. AIG (AIG 47.84, +10.15) surged as short-sellers scrambled to cover their positions in the holding, while banks also provided support. Their advance came in the face of news that the FDIC's Problem List of banks has expanded to a 15-year high and that noncurrent loans and leases increased for a 13th consecutive quarter. However, loans between 30-89 days past due declined by a record amount.

Dollar-sensitive stocks in the materials and energy sectors garnered support as the Dollar Index fell from positive territory to a 0.7% loss late in the session. In turn, materials stocks finished with a 0.6% gain and energy stocks cut their loss to 0.4% after being down roughly 2% as crude oil prices swung from a loss in excess of 1% to settle with a 1.5% gain at $72.49 per barrel.

Industrial stocks traded with relative strength for the entire session and settled with a 0.8% gain. Boeing (BA 51.82, +4.00) buoyed the sector after the company said it plans to deliver the highly-anticipated 787 Dreamliner aircraft in late 2010 and stated that it expects to incur a noncash charge of some $2.5 billion in the third quarter.

Treasuries had a relatively quiet session, which concluded with the benchmark 10-year Note down some 8 ticks following an auction of 7-year Treasuries that was met with a bid-to-cover ratio of 2.74 and a high yield of just 3.09%.DJ30 +37.11 NASDAQ +3.30 NQ100 +0.2% R2K +0.0% SP400 +0.4% SP500 +2.86 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1271/2.15 bln/1368 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1612/1.16 bln/1368