YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM] :The stock market scored a strong gain and locked in its first positive finish for January since 2007 with help from the energy sector, which climbed sharply in response to a spike in oil prices.

Oil prices extended their recent climb to a two-year high of $92.84 per barrel before they settled with a 3.2% gain at $92.19 per barrel. That price spike pulled buyers into oil and gas equipment stocks (+2.6%), exploration issues (+4.4%), and drillers (+2.4%). In turn, the overall energy sector advanced 2.6%.

Massey Energy (MEE 62.86, +5.63) was a standout in the energy sector. It surged close to 10% in response to news that Alpha Natural Resources (ANR 53.73, -4.15) will acquire MEE for $69.33 per share in a mix of cash and stock. Exxon Mobil (XOM 80.68, +1.69) advanced more than 2%, but more of that is owed to a strong sector performance than the oil giant's upside earnings surprise.

Investor appetite for natural resource plays spread to the basic materials stocks, which collectively climbed 1.6%. Materials made up the second best performing sector of the session.

As a group financials advanced 1.0%, but Deutsche Bank (DB 58.55, -0.35) faltered following an earnings forecast that failed to meet what Wall Street had already projected.

Intel (INTC 21.46, +0.00) finished flat after participants assessed news that the firm discovered a chipset error. Although the error will adversely impact the firm's revenue, it wasn't enough to stop Intel from increasing its overall revenue forecast.

Defensive-oriented issues generally lagged, but consumer staples stocks made up the only major sector that suffered a loss. They fell 0.3%.

While energy plays provided leadership, generally broad market strength helped the S&P 500 settle into a 2.3% monthly gain for January. The benchmark Index hasn't booked a January gain in four years.

Amid an increased appetite for risk, the dollar turned lower in today's trade. By the time of the closing bell, the greenback lagged a collection of competing currencies by 0.5%. Most of its slide came against the British pound and the euro, which was helped by higher eurozone inflation readings. Reduced concern about the likelihood of social unrest in Egypt spilling over into other country's also convinced some to rotate out of the dollar. The dollar's loss today locked it in for a 1.6% monthly loss.

The latest dose of data failed to act as any kind of a catalyst. Personal income for December increased 0.4%, which is slightly less than the 0.5% increase that had been expected. Personal spending during December increased 0.7%, which is greater than the 0.6% increase that had been widely anticipated. However, core personal consumption expenditures were flat when a 0.1% increase had been expected by a broad span of economists.

The Chicago PMI came in at 68.8 for December. That represents its best reading since 1988.

The CRB Commodity Index climbed 1.8% for its best single-session surge in eight weeks. The move took the CRB to a near 28-month high.

Higher oil prices were a primary catalyst for the CRB's climb. Crude oil contracts closed pit trade with oil priced 3.2% higher at $92.19 per barrel. Before that, prices in the continuous contract were as high as $92.84 per barrel, which makes for a new two-year high.

Natural gas prices gave up a 2% gain, but rebounded to settle the session 2.3% higher at $4.24 per MMBtu.

Precious metals were more mixed. Specifically, gold prices fell 0.5% to $1334.50 per ounce, but silver prices tacked on 0.9% to settle at $28.17 per ounce.

Advancing Sectors: Energy (+2.6%), Materials (+1.6%), Financials (+1.0%), Industrials (+0.9%), Tech (+0.7%), Health Care (+0.1%), Consumer Discretionary (+0.1%), Telecom (+0.1%), Utilities (+0.1%)
Declining Sectors: Consumer Staples (-0.3%)DJ30 +68.23 NASDAQ +13.19 NQ100 +0.5% R2K +0.8% SP400 +0.8% SP500 +9.78 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1536/1.98 bln/1088 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2054/1.19 bln/915