YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: For the second session in a row, stocks opened lower but buyers moved in to bid the major indices higher. However, upward momentum stalled as the S&P 500 approached the 850 level in the final hour of trading, which prompted sellers to re-enter the fold and hand stocks a sizeable loss.

The late selling effort focused on financial stocks, which closed with a loss of 3.8%, worse than any other sector in the S&P 500. Shares of Morgan Stanley (MS 22.44, -2.21) weighed heavily on the financial sector after the company reported a larger-than-expected first quarter loss and a dividend cut.

Wells Fargo (WFC 18.18, -0.63) worked to offset weakness in the financial sector. Its shares spent most of the session in higher ground after the company reported slightly better earnings than it previewed on April 9. Heading into the close, the stock surrendered its gains to join the sector's many decliners; declining issues in the financial sector outnumbered advancers by more than 6-to-1.

Industrial stocks saw the strongest gains of any sector by closing 1.1% higher. Their advance was led by General Electric (GE 11.80, +0.10), which showed relative strength as the company held a shareholder meeting. 

Despite the industrial giant's strength, the Dow lagged the other headline indices and finished 1.0% lower.

Meanwhile, the Nasdaq outperformed its counterparts for nearly the entire session. Its advance was largely led by Gilead Sciences (GILD 46.22, +2.49), which garnered support after reporting better-than-expected quarterly earnings.

There were several other earnings reports for market participants to digest this session. AT&T (T 25.74, +0.46), McDonald's (MCD 54.25, -1.38), and Yahoo! (YHOO 14.48, +0.10) all topped estimates, but Boeing (BA 37.30, +0.65) and Capital One (COF 14.38, -0.67) missed estimates.

Earnings results will remain in focus heading into tomorrow's session. However, there will also be a couple of economic reports to provide direction to participants. Weekly jobless claims data is due prior to the open (8:30 AM ET), and existing home sales data for March will be released shortly after the opening bell (10:00 AM ET).DJ30 -82.99 NASDAQ +2.27 NQ100 +0.5% R2K +0.1% SP400 +0.3% SP500 -6.53 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1393/2.62 bln/1278 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1617/1.77 bln/1402