YAHOO [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.

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.

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 DJ30 +45.50 NASDAQ +2.19 NQ100 +0.4% R2K -0.4% SP400 -0.4% SP500 -0.38 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1141/2.08 bln/1528 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1281/923 mln/1737