YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: Stocks scored their strongest single session gain in eight weeks on the back of broad-based buying. The effort took the stock market to a new two-year high.

The stock market's refusal to extend Friday's sharp slide yesterday was treated as an encouraging sign to buyers. Gains abroad also offered a positive backdrop for further buying this session.

Support for stocks was wide ranging as nearly 90% of the issues in the S&P 500 staged gains. Every sector except consumer staples (+0.7%) registered a gain of more than 1%. Materials stocks and financial stocks were among the best performers for the second straight session; they climbed 2.8% and 2.2%, respectively.

Such a strong, concerted buying effort helped the S&P 500 close comfortably above the 1300 line, which is where it had faltered on a couple of occasions last week, to its best level since August 2008. The Dow also set a two-year high and closed above the psychologically significant 12,000 line for the first time since June 2008, but the Nasdaq is still shy of the highs that it set a couple of weeks ago.

Dow component Pfizer (PFE 19.22, +1.00) was among this session's best individual performers and most actively traded names by volume. The pharmaceutical outfit's upside earnings surprise was cheered while its disappointing forecast was shrugged off.

In other earnings news, Baidu.com (BIDU 118.73, +10.10), Anadarko Petroleum (APC 78.54, +1.46), UPS (UPS 74.59, +2.97), and Archer-Daniels Midland (ADM 34.70, +2.03) all beat bottom line expectations. BP Plc (BP 47.98, +0.51) came short of the consensus earnings estimate, but announced that it will resume its dividend at 50% of its dividend from the first quarter of fiscal 2010.

Ford Motor (F 15.89, -0.06) saw strong volume following news of its 13% increase in total January sales. General Motors (GM 36.45, -0.04) announced a 23% annual increase in January sales and Toyota Motor (TM 83.29, +1.11) said its January U.S. sales increased 17% from the prior year.

An increased appetite for stocks prompted many to dump the dollar. In turn, the greenback fell 1.0% against a collection of competing currencies to its lowest level in more than two months.

Data was given only brief consideration this session. Although the January ISM Manufacturing Index improved to a six-year high of 60.8, which is greater than the 58.4 that had been expected, on average, among economists polled by Briefing.com, construction spending during December fell 2.5% when a 0.4% decline had been widely expected.

Advancing Sectors: Materials (+2.8%), Financials (+2.2%), Energy (+1.9%), Tech (+1.8%), Health Care (+1.8%), Industrials (+1.6%), Consumer Discretionary (+1.2%), Telecom (+1.2%), Utilities (+1.1%), Consumer Staples (+0.7%)
Declining Sectors: (None)DJ30 +148.23 NASDAQ +51.11 NQ100 +1.9% R2K +2.3% SP400 +1.6% SP500 +21.47 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 2036/2.28 bln/624 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2482/1.09 bln/539