YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: Weekly Recap - Week ending 11-Nov-11Stocks finished the week on a strong note, booking gains of about 2%. The effort marked the fourth advance in five sessions.

A strong, broad bid at the open lifted the major averages to big gains in the early going. The move attracted additional interest, adding to early gains, before stocks set adrift in afternoon trade. From then out support remained steady.

Consumer discretionary plays scored the strongest gains with a 2.5% climb, thanks to leadership from Disney (DIS 36.70, +2.06), which set a multi-month high on the back of a better-than-expected quarterly report. The stock's strength also helped the Dow maintain a modest lead over its counterparts for the duration of trade. All 30 of its components closed in positive territory.

Telecom was the worst performing sector on Friday, but even it scored a 1.0% gain.

Bolstering buying interest was another rally by Europe's bourses -- in broad terms, the EuroStoxx 50 bounced 2%. Underpinning the performance is an increased tolerance for risk as the region moves forward with efforts to stabilize precarious fiscal and financial conditions, especially in Italy, where a new austerity plan is gaining momentum in the legislative process. Yields on Italy's debt were down for the second straight session.

The only dose of data today came from the University of Michigan, which posted its preliminary Consumer Sentiment Survey for November. The Survey improved to 64.2 from 60.9 in the prior month, although it had only been expected to come in at 61.3.

Limited economic releases and corporate announcements likely prevented many market participants from taking positions, effectively keeping a cap on share volume. It probably didn't help that the bond market stayed closed in observance of Veterans Day, keeping many traders away from their desks. Fewer than 800 million shares were traded on the NYSE today.

Such thin share volume may prompt the more cynical market watchers to question the conviction underlying today's climb, especially since each bid carries a greater relative weight on light volume days. Nonetheless, the S&P 500 booked its best single-session percentage gain since the end of October. For the week, stocks advanced almost 1% and are now marginally positive for the year.

Market participants had displayed a renewed tolerance for risk on Thursday, reacting to improved market conditions in Europe and news of a successful debt auction by Italy. Although the auction came at a cost, demand for the country's debt was taken by the market as a sign of confidence.

The only loss of the week was suffered on Wednesday, but it was the worst one-day percentage drop for the S&P 500 about three months. Many were spooked by the specter of contagion as Italy's debt yields climbed to record levels and the notion that Italy's economy is far too large to be aided by a bailout.

Concerns about Italy and its ability to establish a unified political front were also at play as the country looked to replace its prime minister, but stocks were still able to overcome those concerns and score strong gains.

Greece was in focus at the start of the week, when it was announced that Prime Minister Papandreou would step down from his post. Later in the week it was announced that Lukas Papademos will succeed him. Papandreou's resignation came after he had unnerved many officials, and markets for that matter, by proposing a referendum for the country's bailout package.

There wasn't a great deal of data earlier this week, but traders took note of the latest weekly initial jobless claims count, which totaled 390,000. That is less than than 400,000 claims that had been exected, on average, among economists polled by Briefing.com and is also 10,000 less than the prior week total.

The trade deficit for September was also posted. It contracted to $43.1 billion from $44.9 billion in the prior month. A $45.9 billion deficit had been generally expected for September.

The Treasury also posted its budget, which had a deficit of $98.5 billion. A $105.0 billion deficit had been broadly expected to follow the $140.0 billion deficit reported for the prior month.

The pace of earnings announcements slowed this week. Among the more widely held names that reported, Cisco (CSCO 19.04, +0.43), Best Buy (BBY 28.09, +0.79), and General Motors (GM 22.51, -0.19) all bested expectations for the bottom line. Shares of GM cast a pall over its report by issuing a disappointing outlook, however.

There were a handful of debt auctions this week, but results were mostly mixed. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Note ended the week a few basis points above 2.0%.

..Nasdaq 100 +1.9%. ..S&P Midcap 400 +2.3%. ..Russell 2000 2.6%.

Index	Started Week	Ended Week	Change	% Change	YTD %
DJIA	11983.24	12153.68	170.44	1.4	5.0
Nasdaq	2686.15	2678.75	-7.40	-0.3	1.0
S&P 500	1253.23	1263.85	10.62	0.8	0.5
Russell 2000	746.49	744.64	-1.85	-0.2	-5.0