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From Briefing.com: 4:30 pm : Stocks spent the afternoon trading with modest losses after rolling over in the early going, but they managed to make a late push into positive ground during the final hour of trade. The move was led by the financial sector, which actually had been unable to provide a lift to the broader market for most of the session.

Financial stocks outperformed the broader market with relative ease for the entire session. The sector settled with a 2.7% gain, which is more than triple the gain of the next best performing sector, utilities (+0.8%). The financial sector's strength came as banks (BKX 44.48, +1.44) rebounded from the previous session's slide, which came amid concerns regarding the exposure of banks to possible defaults by Dubai World, the corporate flagship of Dubai. Concerns over the matter persisted this morning as reports indicated that the central bank of the United Arab Emirates did not say that it would provide support specifically to Dubai.

However, Dubai World released word this afternoon that its talks with banks revolve around the treatment of roughly $26 billion in debt, a number that is much smaller than what had previously been considered. That recognition propelled financials higher so that they closed at their best levels of the session. The news also quelled some of the broader market's concern and helped it climb out of the red to settle near its own session highs.

The greenback oscillated amid concerns coming from Dubai. However, the Dollar Index surrendered its midsession gains and fell to a fractional loss, which also helped give support to the broader market.

Retailers still struggled, though. Their weakness stemmed from word that sales were soft during "Black Friday." As a group, retailers finished 0.5% lower, dragging the consumer discretionary sector to a 0.4% loss.

Advancing Sectors: Financials (+2.7%), Utilities (+0.8%), Materials (+0.7%), Tech (+0.3%), Industrials (+0.2%), Energy (+0.1%)
Declining Sectors: Consumer Staples (-0.5%), Telecom (-0.5%), Consumer Discretionary (-0.4%), Health Care (-0.3%)DJ30 +34.92 NASDAQ +6.16 SP500 +4.14 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1376/2.01 bln/1317 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1753/1.35 bln/1278

6:35PM Microchip raises Q3 guidance (MCHP) 26.24 +0.19 : Co announced that based on solid bookings and sales activities in October and November that it's raising Q3 guidance to be up 6-8% sequentially, which equates to ~$240.3-244.8 mln vs. $241.0 mln First Call consensus, up from prior guidance of up 4-8%, which equates to ~$235.7-244.8 mln. Separately, the co raised Q3 EPS guidance to $0.29 vs. $0.29 consensus, up from prior guidance of $0.27-0.29... Co said, "The first two months of our December quarter have progressed nicely and we are narrowing our net sales guidance to the upper half of our previous expectations. We currently expect gross margins to come in at the high side of our previous guidance and operating expenses to be at the low end of our previous guidance. We continue to see excellent design win traction in our strategic product lines and believe we are positioned well for future market share gains."

4:55PM OmniVision beats by $0.11, beats on revs; guides Q3 EPS in-line, revs below consensus (OVTI) 13.96 +0.55 : Reports Q2 (Oct) earnings of $0.27 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.11 better than the First Call consensus of $0.16; revenues rose 11.8% year/year to $183.3 mln vs the $163.9 mln consensus. Co issues mixed guidance for Q3, sees EPS of $0.14-0.24, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.20 consensus; sees Q3 revs of $145-160 mln vs. $168.56 mln consensus.

4:07PM Elec For Imaging: German Court declares EFII victorious in patent litigation against Durst (EFII) 12.01 +0.32 : Co announced victory in its German patent litigation with Durst Fototechnik Digital Technology GmbH involving EFI's VUTEk QS series printers with white ink technology. Durst brought the lawsuit in the Mannheim Regional Court on February 27, 2007, accusing EFI's VUTEk QS series printers of infringing Durst's utility model DE 20 2005 012 179 U1. From the outset, EFI has maintained that it employed the technology in its QS printers well before Durst obtained its utility model. Under German law, a utility model is an intellectual property right to protect inventions, very similar to a U.S. patent.