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From Briefing.com: 4:30 pm : Unable to push past 1205, the S&P 500 settled just a few points shy of its session high with broad-based gains.

Stocks were dropped for a 1.7% loss this past Friday, but buyers showed a willingness to step right back into the action. Their efforts took more than six out of every seven stocks in the S&P 500 higher. Such broad-based buying dragged volatility down, such that the Volatility Index fell nearly 9%.

Materials stocks made up the only major sector that failed to stage a gain. Instead, they finished flat as diversified metals and mining plays fell to a 2.3% loss.

Some might be quick to point to the dollar's 0.6% advance as a cause for the relative weakness of the materials sector, but the greenback's gain did nothing to derail the broader market from staging a strong advance. For virtually the entire session both the dollar and the stock market with strong gains and both finished near their session highs.

Most of the buck's upturn came against the yen and the euro. The euro's slide followed news that the European Union and International Monetary Fund agreed to provide Greece with 110 billion euros in financial aid. Though that sum exceeds the 45 billion euros that had originally been proposed, some still wonder whether it would be enough to truly stem systemic risk in the region, especially as the fiscal health of Portugal, Italy, Ireland, and Spain remain rather dubious. What's more, Germany remains hesitant to commit to the recently proposed rescue plan.

Some of the strongest gains this session were had by small-cap stocks. Collectively, they climbed 2.3%, led by a surge in Jackson Hewitt (JTX 2.12, +0.44), which announced a change to its credit agreement.

In other corporate news, Continental (CAL 22.86, +0.51) and United (UAUA 22.11, +0.51) agreed to a definitive merger that will give 1.05 shares of UAUA common stock for each CAL share. The announcement stoked takeover chatter, which helped lift the Amex Airline Index 2.2%.

Meanwhile, auto makers were out with their latest monthly sales numbers. Toyota Motor (TM 77.69, +0.60) said that its U.S. sales for April increased 24% year-over-year, while Honda Motor (HMC 33.68, -0.11) posted for April an annual increase of almost 13% in U.S. sales. Ford Motor (F 13.30, +0.28) reported that its sales for April were up 25% from the year before.

Economic data was generally without surprise, but that was mostly because economists had already seen official first quarter GDP data. Personal income and personal spending for March increased 0.3% and 0.6%, respectively -- both were in-line with expectations. However, core personal consumption expenditures were expected to be flat, but they eked out a 0.1% increase.

Construction spending for March made a surprise increase of 0.2%. It had been expected to fall by 0.5%.

The ISM Manufacturing Index for April came in at 60.4, which was essentially on par with the 60.0 that had been widely expected.

Advancing Sectors: Consumer Discretionary (+2.1%), Industrials (+2.1%), Financials (+1.8%), Tech (+1.4%), Utilities (+1.3%), Telecom (+1.1%), Energy (+1.0%), Health Care (+0.6%), Consumer Staples (+0.6%)
Declining Sectors: (None)
Unchanged: Materials DJ30 +143.22 NASDAQ +37.55 NQ100 +1.6% R2K +2.3%% SP400 +1.6% SP500 +15.57 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1978/2.33 bln/747 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2360/1.18 bln/696

5:02PM Entegris announced it has entered into discussions to reduce its revolving credit facility from $121.7 mln to $60 mln (ENTG) 6.75 +0.57 :

4:56PM Conexant retires $106.7 mln of 4% convertible subordinated notes due 2026 (CNXT) 3.13 +0.07 :

4:07PM Pericom Semi beats by $0.02, beats on revs; guides Q4 revs above consensus (PSEM) 11.99 0.31 : Reports Q3 (Mar) earnings of $0.12 per share, $0.02 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.10; revenues rose 2.5% year/year to $36.7 mln vs the $35 mln consensus. Co issues upside guidance for Q4, sees Q4 revs of $40-$42 mln vs. $36.00 mln Thomson Reuters consensus. Gross margin for Q4 is expected to be in the 35-36% range, operating expenses in the $11.2-$11.7 mln range, and net income from unconsolidated affiliates PTI and JCP is expected to be approximately $0.6 mln.