YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: Large-cap tech issues gave a modest lift to the Nasdaq, but the broader market finished flat after interest in a better-than-expected consumer confidence report dissipated.

A stronger-than-expected improvement in the May Consumer Confidence Index to 52.5 further improved what was already a generally positive tone in the early going. Though gains were modest, the morning advance was broad based.

However, the mood among market participants deteriorated as the dollar made a move up from negative territory to finish with a 0.3% gain against competing currencies. The greenback's gain was somewhat restricted by strength in the British pound, which garnered support amid news that Britain's fourth quarter GDP was upwardly revised to reflect a 0.4% increase.

Still, credit analysts at S&P remain concerned about Britain's fiscal deficit. Such concern offers another reminder that even historically stable global economies face sovereign debt challenges. To its credit, though, France's AAA rating was affirmed by Fitch analysts, who also said the outlook for France's grade is stable.

Strength in the dollar dragged down the broader market, but tech stocks showed resilience. That gave the sector a 0.5% gain and helped the Nasdaq edge out its counterparts.

Apple (AAPL 235.83, +3.44) was a primary leader in its space after reports indicated that the company is developing a network that will enable its highly coveted iPhone to team with more companies than just AT&T (T 25.95, -0.56). The news dropped shares of T, but Verizon (VZ 31.23, +0.78) staged a strong gain.

Financials were part of the reason that the broader market struggled to post a gain. The sector, which is second to tech by market weight, finished with a 0.7% loss. That made it the worst performing sector in the S&P 500. Diversified financial services stocks (-1.3%) were the weakest performers in the sector; they were also among the most actively traded names by volume in the entire market.

Commodities were also little changed this session. They finished 0.3% higher, collectively. May Crude oil chopped above the $82 level for most of the session. It closed 0.2% higher at $82.37 per barrel. After bouncing off a 6-month low at $3.85 per MMBtu, May natural gas actually closed 1.5% higher at $3.98 per MMBtu this session. Natural gas futures had been down 30% since mid-February and 36% since early January. Strength in the dollar this morning caused precious metals to trade modestly lower this session. April gold closed down 0.5% at $1104.50 per ounce while May silver closed down 0.3% at $17.33 per ounce.

Overall trading volume was underwhelming once again as fewer than 1 billion shares traded hands on the NYSE. The low-volume trade has been consistent in recent weeks as participants continue to take a cautious stance, wary of jumping in or out of the market for fear of a correction or missing further gains.

Advancing Sectors: Tech (+0.5%), Materials (+0.2%), Industrials (+0.2%), Health Care (+0.1%), Consumer Staples (+0.1%)
Declining Sectors: Financials (-0.7%), Telecom (-0.4%), Utilities (-0.2%)
Unchanged: Energy, Consumer Discretionary DJ30 +11.56 NASDAQ +6.33 NQ100 +0.3%% R2K +0.3% SP400 +0.1% SP500 +0.05 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1446/2.07 bln/1246 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1552/907 mln/1462