YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: Uninspired by the latest batch of earnings announcements, bulls initially yielded control of stocks to sellers for the second straight session. However, the early decline in stocks compelled buyers looking for more attractive entry prices to move in and offer their support. That helped stocks rebound midmorning and climb higher for the rest of the session.

Financials attracted the most support. The sector was down more than 1% in the early going, but finished with an 8.2% gain at its best levels of the session. Buying in the sector was broad-based, but US Bancorp (USB 19.27, +3.33) provided some of the most positive influence to diversified banks (+13.6%) and the overall financial sector after it reported better-than-expected first quarter earnings.

Meanwhile, Regions Financial (RF 6.14, +0.34) attracted buyers into regional banks (+6.9%) after holding an upbeat conference call. The stock was initially sent lower after the company announced a small profit for the latest quarter. Shares of RF swung nearly 28% from their session low to their closing price.

Buying among financials also helped lift investment services stocks. State Street (STT 36.15, +5.50) surged after topping earnings estimates, but even Bank of New York (BK 27.98, -0.05) and Northern Trust (NTRS 56.17, -1.98) were able to pare losses after both falling short of analysts' expectations.

Semiconductors (+3.3%) were supported when Texas Instruments (TXN 17.11, -0.21) reported better-than-expected results and indicated that demand has begun to stabilize.

Dow components IBM (IBM 102.31, +1.88), Coca-Cola (KO 43.09, -1.24), Caterpillar (CAT 31.39, +0.91), DuPont (DD 28.06, +1.32), Merck (MRK 23.54, -1.68), and United Technologies (UTX 47.99, +2.18) all issued quarterly results for participants to digest. The results were generally mixed, leaving the blue chip average to trail the other headline indices for virtually the entire session. Still, the Dow managed to close with a solid gain.

Small-cap stocks saw some of the strongest gains. The Russell 2000 Small-Cap Index tacked on 3.9% this session. Emulex (ELX 9.70, +3.09) was a primary leader among small-cap stocks. Its gain came after the company received an offer from Broadcom (BRCM 20.52, -1.27) to be acquired for about $764 million.

Airlines also made a strong performance by climbing 10.0% after Delta Air Lines (DAL 8.11, +1.30) reported a first quarter loss that wasn't quite as bad as feared.

Educational services stocks were absent from this session's advance. Prior to the opening bell, analysts at Credit Suisse downgraded several service providers. The group fell 7.0%.

Health care stocks also lagged. Health care was the only sector to finish in the red; it closed 0.9% lower. United Health (UNH 22.80, -1.41) and Schering-Plough (SGP 22.11, -0.94) both were laggards, despite better-than-expected earnings.

There were no economic reports today, but Treasury Secretary Geithner spoke before a congressional committee. He indicated that there was still about $109.6 billion available from the $700 billion rescue package passed last year, and he expects to get at least an additional $25 billion back, bringing the total to $134.6 billion.DJ30 +127.83 NASDAQ +35.64 NQ100 +1.5% R2K +3.9% SP400 +3.1% SP500 +17.69 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 2021/1.94 bln/671 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2409/1.67 bln/634