YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: Strength among financials helped the broader market fend off the challenge of another midsession sovereign debt downgrade and a late flurry of selling. The latest FOMC policy statement had no real effect on trade.

Early trade was rather choppy, but the action was generally positive as stocks sported broad-based gains. Buying came largely as a reflex to the outsized losses that dropped stocks in the prior session.

Another big batch of upbeat earnings and a moderately weaker dollar helped support the improved mood. However, the broader market quickly reversed into the red when news was released that analysts at Standard & Poor's downgraded Spain's credit rating to AA from AA+. Though Spain's debt is still investment grade, a knee-jerk selling effort still followed the announcement, which came just one day after Standard & Poor's cut its rating for Portugal and Greece.

Volatility also spiked and sent many participants back to the dollar, which swung from a modest loss to a 0.4% gain. The greenback gradually gave up its gain and with a 0.2% loss, while volatility cooled and the Volatility Index closed down 7.5%.

Financials were a primary source of strength in the broader market's rebound. The sector also offered leadership as sellers redoubled their efforts in the final hour of trade. Financials settled with a 1.3% gain, which was the best of any major sector.

Relative weakness among large-cap tech issues hampered the Nasdaq, however. It lagged for the entire session and closed flat.

The latest policy statement from the Federal Open Market Committee proved to be a nonevent. The FOMC indicated that the fed funds target rate remains unchanged at the range 0.00% to 0.25%, as expected, and that rates will stay exceptionally low for extended period.

News of another sovereign downgrade helped gold prices extend their gains. The yellow metal finished pit trade with a 0.8% gain at $1171.80 per ounce. That marked a 2010 closing high.

Silver prices slipped, however. The metal closed at $18.11 per ounce, down 0.1%.

Energy prices staged strong gains. More specifically, oil prices were pushed 0.9% higher to $83.32 per barrel. Most of that move came in late trade, after prices had slipped back to their 50-day moving average and gyrated after weekly inventory data showed a larger-than-expected build of 1.96 million barrels.

Meanwhile, natural gas prices were able to move 0.8% higher to $4.35 per MMBtu.

Overall strength among commodities helped the CRB Commodity Index advance 0.5%, which made for a modest rebound after it dropped 1.9% during the prior session.

With the policy statement out of the way, many participants turn their focus to the weekly jobless claims count tomorrow and then the first quarter GDP reading on Friday.

Advancing Sectors: Financials (+1.3%), Energy (+1.1%), Materials (+1.0%), Utilities (+0.9%), Industrials (+0.8%), Health Care (+0.7%), Consumer Staples (+0.6%), Telecom (+0.5%), Tech (+0.2%)
Declining Sectors: Consumer Discretionary (-0.3%) DJ30 +53.28 NASDAQ -0.26 NQ100 +0.1% R2K +0.2% SP400 +0.2% SP500 +7.65 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1412/2.66 bln/1284 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1809/1.44 bln/1222