YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: Stocks staged their third straight advance on the back of a better-than-expected jobs report to eke out another weekly advance -- its ninth in 10 weeks.

Market participants were generally pleased to learn that the jobs picture continues to improve, but excitement was limited by the belief that such a trend could make it less necessary for further economic or monetary stimulus. The headline unemployment rate remains at 8.3%, as had been broadly predicted, but nonfarm payrolls increased in February by 227,000 while nonfarm private payrolls jumped by 233,000. Respective increases of 206,000 and 220,000 had been broadly expected.

Little attention was paid to news that the trade deficit increased in January to $52.6 billion, which is greater than the $48.2 billion deficit that economists surveyed by Briefing.com had generally expected to follow December's upwardly revised deficit of $50.4 billion.

Although stocks started the session in positive territory, it took some time to muster enough strength to make a meaningful move higher. Even after they did, though, the effort to run higher was stymied by resistance at the S&P 500's multi-year closing high of 1374. 

Stocks hugged that line for several hours before retreating in response to headlines that the ISDA ruled that a credit event occurred with respect to Greece. The decision wasn't entirely surprising and came a day after Greece conducted a debt swap that was met with strong demand.

Gains among stocks may have been checked late in the day, but the S&P 500 still managed to settle high enough lock in another weekly gain. Although it amounted to only 0.1%, it still stands as the ninth positive weekly performance in 10 weeks.

Traditionally a defensive holding, the greenback gained about 1% against a basket of major foreign currencies today. Its move was especially pronounced against the euro, sterling pound, and Japanese yen. The dollar's advance really gained momentum with the release of the monthly payrolls report.

A generally positive tone helped take the Volatility Index back below 17 for some time. It settled narrowly above that line, but remained near multi-month lows. 

Trade this week actually started on a weak note amid concerns that global economic growth would be adversely impacted by China's 2012 growth forecast of 7.5%, which stands as its lowest target since 2004.

Market participants were hardly encouraged by better-than-expected domestic data that featured an ISM Service Index reading of 57.3 for February. A reading of 57.0 had been expected to follow the 56.8 that was printed in the prior month. Separately, factory orders fell during January by 1.0%, but that was still less severe than the 1.9% drop that had been widely expected. 

BP (BP 46.69, -0.42) announced early this week that it has struck a $7.8 billion settlement for claims filed following the Gulf oil spill in 2010. The payment will be made from the $20 billion compensation fund set aside by the company. 

Trade on Tuesday was relatively dramatic in that the S&P 500 fell 1.5% to suffer its worst one-day drop in almost three months. The action came on the heels of weak action abroad, where markets remained concerned about the implications of slower growth in China and news that eurozone GDP declined by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, unrevised from its preliminary reading. The disconcerting macro picture came as the stock market began to show fatigue during its run to a new multi-year high in the preceding week.

Widespread weakness and concern that stocks were possibly setting up for a correction caused the Volatility Index to spike more than 15%, putting it back near its monthly high.

Stocks didn't take long to recover from their sell-off, although the mid-week dose of data wasn't all that exciting.

The latest ADP Employment Change indicated that private payrolls climbed by 216,000 in February, on par with the increase of 218,000 that had been broadly expected. The February figure marked an improvement over the upwardly revised increase of 173,000 private payrolls reported for January.

Fourth quarter productivity was revised upward to reflect an increase of 0.9% to narrowly exceed the increase of 0.8% that had been broadly forecasted. However, unit labor costs were also revised higher, but the 2.8% increase was considerably more than the 1.1% increase that had been widely anticipated.

Consumer credit climbed to $17.8 billion in February from a downwardly revised $16.3 billion in the prior month. Economists polled by Briefing.com had forecasted, on average, a decline to $12.0 billion.

Although data did little to drive action, Financials were a source of leadership as they rebounded from their slump in the prior session. The Consumer Discretionary sector also shined, such that American Eagle (AEO 15.54, +0.91) rallied hard despite a disappointing quarterly report and forecast.

General Electric (GE 19.04, +0.01) benefited from news that management continues to expect double-digit revenue growth in global growth regions. Apple (AAPL 545.17, +3.18) shares responded negatively to the company's unveiling of its latest iPad, but on Thursday it shrugged off news that the Justice Department claims that the company colluded to raise electronic book prices.

Stocks built on their mid-week rebound with a broad-based move that provided the second half of the best back-to-back performance for the S&P 500 in more than three months.

Consumer discretionary plays performed well once again as Hot Topic (HOTT 10.01, +0.15) and Coach (COH 77.31, +0.52) climbed. Shares of HOTT hit a multi-year high in response to stronger-than-expected earnings, upside guidance, and a dividend hike. Shares of COH were carried to a record high following encouraging comments from company management. 

AIG (AIG 28.25, -0.06) faltered in the face of it all after it was learned that the Treasury Department filed to offer more than 200 million common shares of the company. Shares of the insurance giant had displayed strength earlier in the week amid news that the company sold $6 billion worth of ordinary shares of its Asia subsidiary AIA in an effort to repay its federal government bailout.

There weren't any surprises at the latest European Central Bank meeting, which culminated with the ECB's target interest rate still at 1.00%. The Bank of England also opted to stand pat on its policy, which has an interest rate target of 0.5% and an asset purchase program of 325 billion pounds.

Overall action among commodities was actually weak this morning, but the CRB Index managed to bounce to a 0.5% gain, booking its second straight advance. Despite that, it still suffered a 1.1% weekly loss, which comes on top of the 1.5% weekly loss suffered the prior week.

Oil prices were down modestly at the open of pit trade, but the energy component closed the day at $107.40 per barrel for a 0.7% gain. Natural gas was able to build on early strength to settle at $2.32 per MMBtu and score itself a 2.2% gain after it had booked its worst close in a decade the day before.

Precious metals were down on the order of 1% or more this morning, but both gold and silver rallied to impressive gains. Specifically, gold settled at $1711.20 per ounce for a 0.7% gain, while silver scored a 1.1% gain by settling at $34.21 per ounce.

The latest weekly jobless claims count totaled 362,000, which is up 8,000 from the prior week and slightly more than the 355,000 claims that had been broadly expected. DJ30 +14.08 NASDAQ +17.92 NQ100 +0.4% R2K +1.3% SP400 +0.9% SP500 +4.96 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1806/1.57 bln/724 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2088/719 mln/889