YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: A couple of pleasing economic reports brought about a barrage of broad-based buying today. That drove both the Dow and S&P 500 to multi-month highs, while the Nasdaq notched its best level in more than a decade.

Market participants turned bullish with the release of the official payrolls report for January. The unemployment rate surprised many by falling to 8.3% from 8.5%, which is where most economists had expected it to remain. Behind the headline number, nonfarm payrolls jumped by 243,000 when an increase of 155,000 had been widely expected. Private payrolls climbed by 257,000 when an increase of 168,000 was what many economists had forecasted.

The ISM Service Index jumped in January to 56.8 from 52.6 in the prior month, exceeding the 53.1 that had been expected, on average, among economists polled by Briefing.com.

December factory orders climbed 1.1%, which is less than the 1.5% increase that had been widely expected, but the report was given less regard since fourth quarter GDP data was already released last week.

Buying was aggressive in the early going, but action in the afternoon became quiet. Still, a steady bid allowed stocks to enter a consolidative, sideways drift.

Financials scored the strongest gains. Their near 3% rally fed a weekly gain of more than 4%. The sector's strong finish to this week's trade contrasted its start, which featured a 1.0% loss on Monday.

The S&P 500 advanced more than 2% for the week. That stands as its fifth consecutive weekly gain, including an incrementally higher finish last week. Stocks haven't had such a strong streak of gains since the S&P 500 scored seven straight weekly gains to round out 2010 and start 2011.

Climbs of the past several weeks may have lacked share volume, but investors concerned only with portfolio growth will likely be pleased that the S&P 500 settled at its highest level since summer, the Dow booked its best close since 2008, and the Nasdaq is now at its highest level since late 2000.

Amid the stock market's strength, the Volatility Index has tumbled to its lowest level in seven months. At about 17, it is down more than 25% year to date.

Participants were generally less risk averse today, but the dollar didn't suffer from any kind of a concerted selling effort. Although it was unable to sustain a gain, it was flat against a collection of competing currencies by session's end.

Treasuries were trounced, however. The benchmark 10-year Note was dropped a full point. That took its yield back to where it started the week.

Action among stocks was more varied before trade commenced Friday. Earnings in focus included better-than-expected results from Dow Chemical (DOW 34.18, +0.64), Qualcomm (QCOM 61.06, +0.33), MasterCard (MA 390.32, +8.75), Cardinal Health (CAH 42.05, -0.17), Seagate Tech (STX 26.42, +0.67), Broadcom (BRCM 37.67, +0.67), Whirlpool (WHR 68.66, +4.30), Pfizer (PFE 21.20, +0.09), and Eli Lilly (LLY 39.51, -0.09). Exxon Mobil (XOM 84.92, +1.39) had in-line earnings results, while Amazon.com (AMZN 187.68, +5.96), Boston Scientific (BSX 6.03, +0.19), and CIGNA (CI 43.55, -0.58) came short of what Wall Street had expected of their earnings.

Retailers were out with monthly same-store sales results, but overall numbers were uninspiring. Gap (GPS 21.71, +0.19) and Target (TGT 52.14, +0.14) were among those that exceeded expectations, but Macy's (M 36.12, +0.89) and Nordstrom (JWN 50.27, +1.16) were among those that disappointed.

Social network outfit Facebook made headlines by filing for an initial public offering that some estimate will value the company up to $100 billion. That would more than quadruple the $23 billion valuation that Google (GOOG 596.33, +11.22) garnered in its IPO.

Market participants also had plenty of data to digest this week. Given the significance of the payrolls report on Friday, only modest attention was given to the latest weekly initial jobless claims tally. It showed that 367,000 claims were filed. That's less than the 375,000 initial claims that had been broadly expected.

The ADP Employment Change gave market participants a mid-week preview of the official payrolls report. It suggested that private payrolls increased in January by 170,000, which is less than the increase of 200,000 that many economists had expected.

The ISM Manufacturing Index improved in January to 54.1 from 53.1 in the prior month, but many had expected it to make a slightly stronger climb to 54.5. China reported mixed manufacturing data, but a handful of major eurozone members reported incremental improvements in their PMI Manufacturing readings.

The latest Chicago PMI fell to 60.2 in January from 62.5 in the prior month, contrasting the consensus forecast for a modest improvement to 62.8. The Consumer Confidence Index for January also proved disappointing. It fell to 61.1 from 64.8 in the prior month, clashing with expectations for an improvement to 67.0.

In the wake of last week's Advance fourth quarter GDP report personal spending data for December caused little stir. It was unchanged for the month. That's not too different than the expected increase of 0.1%. Core personal consumption expenditures increased by 0.2%, just as many had expected. Of interest to some, though, was news that the lack of spending came in the face of an increase in personal income of 0.5%, which actually exceeds the 0.4% increase that had been expected.

The CRB Index rallied to a 1.1% gain today. That snapped a four-session losing streak, but wasn't enough to avoid a weekly loss, which totaled 1.1%. 

Oil displayed strength, helped by encouraging economic data and speculation over rising tensions in the Middle East. Continuous futures contract prices closed pit trade at $97.79 per barrel for a 1.5% gain. Elsewhere in the energy complex, natural gas prices fell 1.2% to $2.53 per MMBtu.

Precious metals traded with little direction this morning, but both gold and silver slid lower as trade progressed. As a result, gold settled with a 0.8% loss at $1740.20 per ounce, while silver settled with a 0.7% loss at $33.73 per ounce.

Fed Chairman Bernanke offered up testimony on the economy to the House of Representatives Budget Committee, but his statement caused little stir. Few were surprised by his analysis that the sluggish expansion of the economy has left it vulnerable to shocks. Bernanke did indicate, though, that concerns about the domestic outlook and developments in Europe are abating, even as Greece continues to grapple with creditors over its lending terms. DJ30 +156.82 NASDAQ +45.98 NQ100 +1.3% R2K +2.2% SP400 +1.6% SP500 +19.36 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 2039/2.14 bln/506 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2361/905 mln/647