YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: Strong earnings and a slide in the dollar sent stocks to fresh five-month highs this session. Some of the gains were surrendered into the close, though.

Buying was initially stirred by better-than-expected earnings from bellwethers Intel (INTC 19.24, -0.53) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM 39.84, -0.56). Though neither name actually advanced, their announcements were enough to add to the stock market's recent momentum, which has seen the S&P 500 close higher for four straight sessions.

JPM wasn't the only name that was rejected among banks. Their general weakness left the financial sector to finish flat.

Tech (+0.9%) was actually led by Apple (AAPL 300.14, +1.60), which broke above the $300 mark to set a record high.

Rail carrier CSX Corp (CSX 59.66, +2.40) was one of the session's best performers, thanks to an upside earnings surprise of its own. The stock's strength helped the industrials sector advance 1.5%, but materials stocks advanced 1.7% to book the biggest gain of any sector.

Basic materials stocks, as well as the broader market, were helped by renewed weakness in the dollar. The dollar dipped 0.4% to test its eight-month lows.

Weakness in the dollar and a broadly positive mood among traders sent the CRB Commodity Index to a new two-year high. The CRB finished with a 0.6% gain, about half of what it had sported at its session high.

Positive market breadth had taken the Volatility Index (VIX) down to its lowest level since April, but the VIX rebounded as stocks drifted lower into the close.

Though stocks finished off of their session highs, advancing issues still outnumbered advancers by 4-to-1 in the S&P 500. Share volume was also strong, in that nearly 1.3 billion shares were traded on the NYSE today. Outside of the final session of the third quarter, today's total is the greatest of the past month.

Treasuries retraced their slide as stocks eased lower into the close. In turn, the benchmark 10-year Note finished a few ticks for the better even though dollar demand at a $21 billion auction of 10-year Notes was the lowest since December 2009.

The CRB Commodity Index ended the session with a 0.6% gain, about half of what it had sported at its session high. The CRB's best level of the day also made for a fresh two-year high.

Precious metals prices pushed sharply higher. The continuous gold contract hit a new record of $1374 per ounce before pit traded ended with gold priced at $1370.50 per ounce with a 1.8% gain. Silver prices set a fresh 30-year high at $23.98 per ounce before they settled with a 3.4% gain at $23.93 per ounce.

As for energy, oil prices finished the day at $83.01 per barrel with a 1.6% gain. Natural gas prices climbed 1.9% to $3.70 per MMBtu.

Advancing Sectors: Materials (+1.7%), Industrials (+1.5%), Energy (+1.1%), Tech (+0.9%), Consumer Staples (+0.8%), Health Care (+0.7%), Utilities (+0.3%), Consumer Discretionary (+0.2%)
Declining Sectors: Telecom (-0.1%)
Unchanged: FinancialsDJ30 +75.68 NASDAQ +23.31 SP500 +8.33 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1946/2.31 bln/707 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2289/1.27 bln/712