[BRIEFING.COM] Action was choppy and lackluster this session, but the Dow still mustered enough support to make a fresh 52-week high. Meanwhile, the broader market muddled along with a moderate loss for most of the session before it managed to make a flat finish.

Support for blue chips helped drive the Dow to a moderate gain, which put it at its best level since October 2008. Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by 2-to-1 in the Dow. Caterpillar (CAT 59.77, -0.45) was a laggard in the group after it announced disappointing monthly sales metrics for February.

In other corporate news, FedEx (FDX 92.67, +2.87), Nike (NKE 74.66, +3.78), and Guess (GES 47.35, +0.67) all announced better-than-expected earnings. Shares of all three names booked new 52-week highs this session.

The broader market was unenthused by the upbeat batch of earnings, however. In turn, it was mired in listless action for almost all of the session.

Unlike the prior session, natural resource plays were out of favor. As such, energy stocks shed 1.2%. Their weakness was exacerbated by a 0.9% decline in oil prices to $82.20 per barrel and a 4.9% fall in natural gas prices to $4.09 per MMBtu. Natural gas prices were primarily pressured by news of a smaller-than-expected draw in weekly inventories. Natural gas has traded as a laggard among commodities this entire week.

Materials stocks made up the next worst performing sector. They fell 0.7%.

A stronger dollar didn't bode well for the energy and materials sectors. The greenback gained 0.8% against competing currencies. That marked its best single-session percentage gain in one month.

The dollar managed to sustain its gain in the face of tepid consumer price data, which is often treated as a barometer for inflation expectations. Specifically, the Consumer Price Index for February was flat and core prices increased 0.1% month-over-month. Economists, on average, expected a 0.1% monthly increase for the headline CPI number, while the same increase had been expected for the core figure.

In other economic news, initial jobless claims for the week ended Mar. 13 totaled 457,000, which is on par with the 455,000 initial claims that had been expected and down 5,000 from the prior week. Continuing claims totaled 4.58 million, which is greater than the 4.52 million continuing claims that had been expected. Continuing claims for the prior week were upwardly revised to 4.57 million, though.

The Philadelphia Fed Index for March came in at 18.9, which is a bit above the reading of 18.0 that had been expected. Leading Indicators registered a 0.1% increase, as expected.

Though this session's action was choppy, and at times sloppy, volatility dropped to a fresh 52-week low. The Volatility Index closed 1.7% lower.

Advancing Sectors: Industrials (+0.7%), Telecom (+0.6%), Health Care (+0.6%), Tech (+0.2%)
Declining Sectors: Energy (-1.2%), Materials (-0.7%), Financials (-0.5%), Utilities (-0.4%)
Unchanged: Consumer Staples, Consumer Discretionary

[BRIEFING.COM] Equity averages are straddling the unchanged level. The Dow is outperforming, however, currently posting a slight gain of 0.4%.

Energy commodities sold off this session. April natural gas fell 4.9% to $4.09 per MMBtu after inventory data this morning sent prices through the floor. Natural gas futures are now down 32% since January 6. Crude oil futures also traded lower this session. April crude oil traded below the $82 level late in the morning but closed at $82.20 per barrel, down 0.9%. Heating oil futures lost 1.0% while RBOB gasoline lost 0.4%. In total, the energy complex lost 1.8% this session.

Precious metals fared much better than energy commodities, despite a 0.7% increase in the dollar increase. April gold closed 0.3% higher at $1127.50 per ounce; May silver closed 0.6% lower at $17.42 per ounce.

Continuing their volatile recent trade, sugar futures saw the largest relative gains this session. May sugar closed 3.8% higher at $0.19 per pound.

[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 recently made a run up to the unchanged mark, but it was unable to push into positive territory. It has since returned to a modest loss.

Though stocks have struggled to find higher ground this afternoon, a loss this session would merely mark the first down session of this week. Since the start of this week stocks are up 1.2%. Month-to-date, stocks are up more than 5%, which makes for the stock market's best monthly performance since July 2009.

[BRIEFING.COM] Semiconductor stocks are having a rather weak session. In turn, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index is down 0.9% at the moment. Of its 20 components, only Broadcom (BRCM 33.91, +0.30) is in higher ground. Its shares were upgraded by analysts at Goldman Sachs.

While semiconductor stocks are under pressure, large-cap tech has been a primary source of support for the broader tech sector, which is up a relatively tame 0.2% at the moment.

[BRIEFING.COM] The Dow recently made its way to a fresh session high, but the S&P 500 has yet to return to higher ground. The Dow is currently led by Boeing (BA 70.58, +1.20), 3M (MMM 83.38, +1.20), and IBM (IBM 128.43, +0.67). However, Caterpillar (CAT 59.75, -0.47) is a laggard among blue chips; the company announced this morning that its February retail sales of machines declined 20% from the prior year. The industrial machinery maker posted other annual retail sales declines too.

Meanwhile, the S&P 500 is being hampered by Marshall & Isley (MI 7.82, -0.52), which was recently the subject of negative analyst commentary. Nike (NKE 74.65, +3.77) has helped provide the broad-based index some support, though; the athletic footwear and apparel company brought in better-than-expected earnings for its latest quarter.

[BRIEFING.COM] Stocks have made their way up from session lows with help from the greenback's pullback. The dollar had been up 1% at its session high, but it has pared that gain so that it now trades 0.7% for the better. Still, action in the broader market remains listless and choppy.

The Volatility Index is down another 2.0% this session. That puts the VIX at a fresh 52-week low.

[BRIEFING.COM] Stocks have spent this session consolidating a recent string of advances that culminated in fresh 52-week highs in the prior session. In turn, action has been both listless and lackluster.

Inclined to step to the sidelines after watching stocks advance in twelve of the past 14 sessions, market participants shrugged off better-than-expected earnings from FedEx (FDX 90.10, +0.30), Nike (NKE 75.00, +4.12), and Guess (GES 47.01, +0.33).

In-line consumer price data and in-line initial jobless claims numbers also did nothing to convince buyers to come back into the market.

Gains by the greenback have also hampered action this session. The dollar is currently up 0.8% against competing currencies.

The energy sector has been most burdened by the dollar's advance. The sector is down 1.5% as oil prices and natural gas prices are pushed lower. OIl is down 1.0% to $82.10 per barrel at the moment, while natural gas is down 5.1% to $4.08 per MMBtu. Weakness in natural gas prices has been exacerbated by disappointing weekly inventory data.

Financials have also been out of favor, though. The sector is down 0.9% at the moment. Regional banks were leaders for the sector in the prior session, but they are laggards in the latest round of action. The group is currently off by 2.2% even though FDIC Chairman Bair stated that banks are making progress as they work through troubled assets, which she said will likely peak this year and improve next year, according to Reuters.

[BRIEFING.COM] The stock market extended its recent slide so that all three major indices now trade at fresh session lows. The move has taken the financial sector to a 1.0% loss.

Regional banks remain the worst performers in the financial sector. With a 2.1% decline, they have handed back almost all of their gains from the prior session.

Among regional lenders, Comerica (CMA 37.91, -0.33) announced that it has redeemed the $2.25 billion of preferred stock that it issued to the Treasury under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). In addition to the redemption payment, Comerica paid the Treasury almost $151 million in dividends on the preferred stock since it was issued in November 2008. By repaying the TARP investment, Comerica will eliminate the annual $134 million negative impact on net income to common shareholders related to the preferred stock. 

On a related note, FDIC Chairman Bair stated that banks are making progress as they work through troubled assets, which she said will likely peak this year and improve next year, according to Reuters.

Elsewhere in the financial sector, Hartford Financial (HIG 27.86, -0.72) priced an offering of 52.3 million shares of common stock at $27.75 per share, which marks a near 3% discount to the stock's prior session closing price. Hartford also announced a concurrent offering of 20 million depositary shares that take a fractional interest in the company's Series F 7.25% Mandatory Convertible Preferred Stock.

[BRIEFING.COM] The dollar has extended its advance so that it now sports a 1.0% gain against competing currencies. The major indices have rolled over in response. That has put the S&P 500 at a fresh session low. Still, the scope of the stock market's overall decline remains modest.

Though the stock market's recent slip has been broad based, natural resource plays have been among the hardest hit. In turn, the energy sector now trades with a 1.2% loss. Its weakness has been exacerbated by softer oil and natural gas prices -- oil was last priced 1.3% lower at $81.85 per barrel and natural gas was last priced 4.8% lower at $4.10 per MMBtu.

Meanwhile, materials stocks have fallen to a fresh session low of their own. Collectively, materials stocks are down 0.6%.

[BRIEFING.COM] Materials stocks had been up as much as 0.6% in the early going, but the sector has since surrendered its gain to trade with a 0.3% loss. The sector's downturn has been broad based with 22 of its 31 components in negative territory.

Industrial stocks have managed to put together a solid gain. The sector is up 0.5% at the moment. Industrials also make up the best performing sector of 2010 -- they are up more than 11% year-to-date.

Meanwhile, the broader market continues to trade in choppy, listless fashion.

[BRIEFING.COM] Financials continue to trail the broader market. The sector is down 0.4% at the moment. Regional banks are a primary source of weakness in the sector. They are down a collective 1.2% after advancing more than 2% during the prior session.

Energy stocks have also handed back a portion of their gains from the prior session. The energy sector tacked on more than 1% on Wednesday, but it is down 0.7% this session. Its pullback correlates with weakness in oil prices and natural gas prices. Oil prices were last quoted 0.7% lower at $82.35 per barrel, while natural gas prices were last quoted 3.8% lower at $4.14 per MMBtu.

[BRIEFING.COM] Continued strength in shares of DuPont (DD 37.35, +0.85) and Alcoa (AA 14.80, +0.34) has helped the Dow take a slight lead over its counterparts. The pair has also helped the materials sector extend its move this morning to a 0.5% gain, which makes it the best performing sector in the early going.

The Philadelphia Fed Index for March was just released. It came in at 18.9, which is a bit above the reading of 18.0 that had been expected.

Leading Indicators were also just released. They registered a 0.1% increase, as expected.

[BRIEFING.COM] Stocks are trading in choppy fashion during the first few minutes of the session. So far, action has generally been listless, but materials stocks have shown moderate strength -- they are up 0.3%.

Meanwhile, financials are notably weak, down 0.4%, after advancing more than 1% during the prior session. The prior session's move came in the face of Citigroup's decision to downgrade the sector.

[BRIEFING.COM] The stock market moved higher for the third straight session; a fresh 52-week high was set along the way. Though the latest advance was broad based, the stock market surrendered part of its gain after an encounter with near-term technical resistance.

Momentum from recent advances carried over into early action and positioned stocks to extend their gains. The upward trend only seems to have begotten more buying.

A positive bias among broader market participants has taken volatility down considerably. As such, the Volatility Index dropped to a 22-month low. It closed down 5.0%.

The upbeat tone in the broader market lifted advancing issues at a rate of more than 2-to-1 in the S&P 500. Financials and natural resource plays were steady leaders during the session.

Financials finished 1.1% higher. The sector's strength was underpinned by banks, especially regional banks, which tacked on 2.4% to extend their year-to-date gain to 29.8%.

Meanwhile, oil and gas equipment stocks advanced 1.7% to help the energy sector secure a 1.1% gain. A 1.5% rise in oil prices to $82.93 per barrel helped. Oil's climb came in the face of a smaller-than-expected inventory build of 1.01 million barrels for the week ended Mar. 12. In other oil-related news, OPEC opted to keep output unchanged at its latest meeting, as had been expected.

Metal mining giant Alcoa (AA 14.46, +0.66) helped the materials sector stage a 0.7% gain. Reuters reported that the Italian parliament has approved a decree that offers favorable conditions to some industrial consumers after Alcoa had recently threatened to idle smelters in the country.

While buyers kept stocks in positive territory for the entire session, they couldn't propel the S&P 500 past near-term resistance at the 1170 line. Stocks tried twice to overtake the technical line, but they rolled over after they failed on both attempts. Still, stocks were able to close the session with solid gains.

Overseas markets, including those in both Europe and Asia, also made strong gains in their latest showing. Their advances followed better-than-expected employment data out of Britain and minutes from a recent Bank of England meeting that showed committee members voted unanimously to keep interest rate targets unchanged. Japan's central bank voted in its latest meeting to keep its own interest rates low and doubled the amount available under its short-term lending program to 20 trillion yen.

Current Fed Chairman Bernanke and former Fed Chairman Volcker testified about banking regulation to the House Committee on Financial Services this afternoon, but neither made any stark comments.

U.S. data did little for participants this session. Producer prices for February fell 0.6%, which was a sharper drop than expected, but core prices climbed a tame 0.1%, as expected.

Advancing Sectors: Financials (+1.1%), Energy (+1.1%), Materials (+0.7%), Telecom (+0.6%), Consumer Discretionary (+0.5%), Consumer Staples (+0.5%), Tech (+0.4%), Utilities (+0.4%), Industrials (+0.4%), Health Care (+0.1%)
Declining Sectors: (None)