YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: The long and short of things Tuesday is that the stock market remained biased toward the long side.  There were half-hearted attempts to drive the market lower, but as soon as they started, it wasn't long before they were snuffed out with renewed buying interest.

For the most part, the session progressed on an unventful note.  The major averages held to narrow trading ranges, sporting modest gains for a good part of the day thanks to the relative strength exhibited by the industrial (+1.1%) and semiconductor (+2.3%) sectors.  However, there was a late-day breakout when the S&P 500 cleared last week's high of 1169.84.

The late move was a broad-based affair that saw all sectors participating, but a surge in buying interest in the influential financial sector (+0.8%) lent some added weight to the advance, as did a continuation move in the red-hot consumer discretionary sector (+0.4%).  The latter is up 16.5% from its intraday low on Feb. 5.

By and large, the elements of an economic recovery trade were evident again Tuesday. 

The basic materials (+1.3) and technology (+0.9) sectors joined with the industrial and financial sectors to outperform the market.  Additionally, small-cap stocks, which trailed early, regrouped and handily outperformed their large-cap counterparts.  The Russell 2000 gained 1.1% and is now up 19% from its intraday low on Feb. 5.

The stock market was hindered early by reports discussing a rift developing in the eurozone with respect to EU-funded aid for Greece should it be needed.  The headlines on that matter changed by the hour, yet the headlines tended to favor the notion that Germany will ultimately come around to support an EU plan for Greece should it be needed.

That favorable sense of things was reflected in a narrowing of 5-year credit default swap spreads for all members of the PIIGS contingent, which includes Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain.

The stock market at the same time couldn't help but respect the idea that a period of consolidation is in order after such a big run in the last six weeks.  Accordingly, the market traded gingerly in the early going.  Soon, though, the recognition that stock prices again held up to selling pressure attracted more buyers fearful of missing out on further upside (and/or shorts fearful of seeing further upside).

The trade then fed on itself with the late-day break of technical resistance.  The end result was that the major averages closed near their best levels of the day and the S&P 500 recorded its best closing level in 18 months.

The 10-year Treasury note dropped 7 ticks, bringing its yield up to 3.69%.  Losses were extended as stocks rallied late. 

The $44 bln 2-year note auction went reasonably well with a bid-to-cover of 3.00, but it was still regarded by the market as a slight disappointment given the high yield of 1.00% and the understanding that the bid-to-cover trailed the 3.10 average of the past 10 auctions.

Tuesday was a day that predominately belonged to stocks, although the U.S. Dollar Index (+0.3%) fared well in the wake of weaker-than-expected inflation data seen in the U.K., the political discord surrounding Greece, and the optimism about economic prospects in the U.S.

February existing home sales declined 0.6% (consensus -1.1%) in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.02 mln units (consensus 5.00 mln).  That was 7.0% higher than the year-ago period.

An afternoon bounce in the dollar index caused gold and silver to pullback from their highs, at $1108 and $17.15, heading into the close of pit trade. Both metals finished the day in positive territory despite the late session strength in the index. April gold futures finished up 0.3% to $1103.70 per ounce. May silver futures closed higher by 0.5% to $17.027 per ounce... Crude oil had a very quiet afternoon, as it chopped around just above the flat line near the $82 level. The market is eyeing tomorrow's inventory data, scheduled to be released at 10:30am ET. May futures finished higher by 0.4% to $81.91. Natural gas ticked higher in afternoon trade, and attempted to take out its highs, at $4.217. It came up short of those levels, but still finished the session comfortably higher. April futures finished higher by 1.3% to %4.135... Sugar futures extended their sell off into the close, finished lower by over 7% to $0.1657. Sugar's 8-month lows, and its third consecutive down day, reflected concerns about substantial output coming from Brazil.

On a related note, Treasury Secretary Geithner testified on housing finance/reform before the House Financial Services Committee.  His remarks went about as expected as he acknowledged the government-sponsored enterprises won't exist in their current form after changes are made, that reforming them will be complicated, and that nationalization is not an attractive option.

The spotlight in Washington D.C., though, shined on the White House where President Obama signed the Health Care Reform Bill into law.

Trading volume across U.S. stock exchanges picked up some from Monday.  A total of 8.06 bln shares traded, which is still 7% below the 50-day moving average. 

Volume failed to top 1.0 bln shares at the NYSE, yet advancing issues easily outpaced declining issues by a nearly 3-to-1 margin.  At the Nasdaq that margin was compressed to a 2-to-1 margin in favor of advancing issues. DJ30 +102.94 NASDAQ +19.84 SP500 +8.36 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1794/2.30 bln/861 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2195/984 mln/815