YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: The major indices started the session with modest losses, but that was met by buyers looking to extend the stock market's recent gains. Stocks did hand back a chunk of their gains following a disappointing Fed Beige Book, but participants shrugged off the commentary and pushed stocks broadly higher into the close.

There weren't many news items to drive action in the early going, but that didn't stop participants from looking to continue the stock market's recent ride higher. Their efforts helped take the stock market back above last week's highs, but gains stalled as the S&P 500 came within close range of 2009 highs near 1039.

Industrial stocks showed leadership for the entire session. As a group, they settled 1.6% higher.

Financials had lagged in the early going, but managed to make their way to a 1.4% gain and provide support to the broader market. AIG (AIG 38.89, +3.04) was a primary leader as it bounced back from a two-session slide. Capital One (COF 37.47, +2.03) was also a leader in the financial sector. It benefited from an upgrade by analysts at Citigroup. Citigroup's analysts also upgraded shares of MasterCard (MA 210.31, +2.86), while JPMorgan upgraded Morgan Stanley (MS 28.55, +0.75).

Thanks to a late rebound by the broader market, energy and materials stocks were able to close with strength. They had faltered after energy prices and precious metals prices finished in weak fashion. Gold prices closed pit trade at $997.10 per ounce, down nearly 0.3%, and silver prices settled down 0.2% at $16.47 per ounce. Crude oil prices showed considerable strength early on, but finished with a 0.5% gain at $71.49 per barrel. The gyrations came ahead of the latest OPEC meeting, which is expected to culminate with oil output unchanged. Meanwhile, natural gas prices settled 1.2% higher at $2.84 per contract after being up nearly 7%.

Consumer staples stocks struggled for the entire session. They closed with a 0.1% loss. Utilities stocks were also weak and finished with a 0.1% loss.

Stocks showed little reaction to the results of a $20 billion 10-year Note auction, which showed a high yield of 3.51% and a bid-to-cover ratio of nearly 2.8, which is well above the 2009 auction average of 2.5. The benchmark 10-year Note moved lower a while after the results were released, but it eventually made its way to a fractional gain before the closing bell.

The only positive news from the Beige Book came from the manufacturing sector, which has seen an increase in orders, but improvements for the rest of the economy have largely been mediocre and show a slowing decline in economic activity, not an increase. The Fed's commentary also indicated that downward pressure on home prices continued in most districts.

Though stocks were initially let down by the Fed's commentary, it didn't take long for participants to brush the report aside to support a broad-based rebound, which ensured a fourth straight gain for the stock market. DJ30 +49.88 NASDAQ +22.62 NQ100 +0.9% R2K +1.7% SP400 +1.4% SP500 +7.98 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1896/2.49 bln/772 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2182/1.24 bln/842