YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: A bevy of upbeat headlines drove the Dow back above 12,000 as stocks scored their best single-session advance in three months. Stocks are now on pace for their best weekly performance since the first quarter of 2009.

Building on the bounce that began at the beginning of this week, buyers pushed back into stocks after officials in China announced overnight lower reserve requirement ratios for the country's banks. Their efforts were ratcheted up when it was learned that several major central banks, including the Fed, will coordinate efforts to ease pressure in global money markets.

Buying interest was further bolstered by news that the ADP Employment Change for November showed an increase in private payrolls of 205,000, which is far greater than the increase of 125,000 that had been expected, on average, among economists polled by Briefing.com. Data for the prior month was revised upward to reflect an increase of 130,000 private payrolls. However, the Fed's Beige Book for October would later indicate that hiring during that month was generally subdued.

The Chicago PMI improved to its best level since April by spiking from 58.4 in October to 62.6 in November. Many had actually expected the number to slip to 57.5. Pending home sales for October also proved impressive, despite expectations for an underwhelming number. Specifically, an incremental increase of 0.1% had been anticipated, but instead a spike of 10.4% was posted.

The decidedly upbeat nature of today's headlines induced a buying effort that was both strong and broad from start to finish. Moreover, the move came on above-average share volume.

Stocks have now scored three straight gains, but what is most impressive is in that time the broad market has climbed more than 7% to almost fully offset the losses suffered in the seven preceding sessions.

With participants so willing to pile on risk, Treasuries traded lower. In turn, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Note moved back above 2.00%, setting a new 10-day high along the way.

The dollar also dropped today. At session's close it was down nearly 1% against a collection of competing currencies. The euro gained the most ground against the greenback.

The Volatility Index, often euphemistically referred to as the Fear Gauge, returned to its monthly low amid the market's rally. By day's end it was down more than 9%. Just last week it had traded near its monthly high.

Commodities, including gold, silver, copper and crude oil all surged on this morning's announcement that six central banks will implement coordinated actions to enhance their capacity to provide liquidity support to the global financial system. This news applied substantial pressure to the dollar. Gold and silver futures rallied sharply on the back of this news. Both metals did, however, eventually level off. Gold spent the majority of pit trade chopping around the $1750 mark, while silver eventually found resistance at the $33 mark. Gold ended higher by 1.8% at $1750.30 per ounce, while silver settled up 2.9% at $32.89 per ounce.

Crude futures were pressured in mid-morning trade the bigger-than-expected build in inventories, as well as the modest rebound in the dollar. Despite the pullback, futures managed to close above the $100; up 0.6% at $100.36 per barrel. Natural gas ended lower by 2.2% at $3.56 per MMBtu. Futures attempted to recoup morning losses, but fell shy of breaking above the unchanged mark. That failed breakthrough led to a late-session sell off.

Advancing Sectors: Financials +6.6%, Materials +5.9%, Energy +5.5%, Industrials +5.1%, Tech +4.0%, Health Care +3.7%, Telecom +3.3%, Consumer Discretionary +3.2%, Utilities +2.8%, Consumer Staples +2.4%
Declining Sectors: (None)DJ30 +490.05 NASDAQ +104.83 NQ100 +3.8% R2K +5.9% SP400 +5.0% SP500 +51.77 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 2148/2.41 bln/464 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2705/1.66 bln/394