YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM] : Negative headlines sent stocks to their lowest point since 2003, but buyers emerged midday to push the major indices sharply higher. The S&P 500 had been down nearly 4% at its session low, yet finished near its session high with a gain of almost 7%.

The session's gains were had amid disappointing outlooks from tech bellwether Intel (INTC 14.43, +0.91) and retail giant Wal-Mart (WMT 54.93, +2.31), along with another batch of weak jobless claims data.

Intel cut its fourth quarter revenue forecast, citing softer demand. The company now expects revenue to range from $8.7 billion to $9.3 billion, which is a reduction of more than $1 billion from its prior estimate.

Wal-Mart stated it expects earnings for the fourth quarter to range from $1.03 to $1.07 per share, and from $3.42 to $3.46 per share for fiscal 2009. However, both ranges fell below Wall Street's expectations, causing investors to look past better-than-expected results for the latest quarter.

Weekly jobless claims continue to indicate a soft labor market and suggest nonfarm payrolls will decline for an 11th consecutive month. Claims for the week ended Nov. 8 totaled 516,000, which is a seven-year high. Claims were up 32,000 from the prior week and topped the consensus estimate of 480,000.

Despite such headlines, stocks still opened the session in positive ground. But before long the major indices began drifting lower, eventually taking both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq to new multiyear lows. The Dow came within 2% of hitting its new low, which was registered in October.

Crude oil futures also had a volatile session. Crude was up more than 6% after being down more than 2.5% during the session. It settled near $56 per barrel, up roughly 3.6%.

Oil's advance followed reports that OPEC may schedule an emergency meeting to adjust output. Meanwhile, weekly crude inventories increased by a modest 22,000 barrels during the week ended Nov. 7. A build of 1 million barrels was expected.

The strength in oil prices gave energy a double-digit lift. The energy sector finished 11.1% higher, more than any other sector.

Gains were broad based as all 10 economic sectors posted gains, each finishing near their session highs. Even the struggling financial sector finished with an impressive advance of 8.1%. The financial sector remains the worst performer this year, down more than 54% year-to-date.

The advance came on relatively moderate volume as 95% of the companies in the S&P 500 finished higher.DJ30 +552.59 NASDAQ +97.49 NQ100 +6.5% R2K +1.9% SP400 +8.2% SP500 +58.99 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 2006/3.0 bln/771 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2311/1.99 bln/805