YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: Disappointing jobs data weakened stocks in the early going, but some late buying took the broader market to its third straight gain and within reach of its two-year high.

Nonfarm payrolls for November increased by 39,000 and private payrolls expanded by 50,000, but both disappointed as the consensus among economists polled by Briefing.com had called for respective increases of 130,000 and 140,000. An unexpected rise in the headline unemployment to 9.8% from 9.6% was also discouraging.

The jobs data immediately weakened the tone surrounding stocks. The dollar was also hit by sellers.

The dollar ended the day down 1.4%, which made for its third straight loss and fourth in five days. The dollar ended the week down 1.5% for its worst weekly performance of the past two months. The dollar's recent doldrums come as market participants speculate that weak job conditions will keep down interest rates for some time, but also amid increased risk taking as contagion concerns surrounding Europe diminish.

The dollar ended the day at its session low. Its final leg lower helped give a late lift to the broader market after its initial weakness had already helped stocks limit losses. A midmorning dose of data also had helped keep the tone of trade from deteriorating. Specifically, the ISM Service Index for November improved to a six-month high of 55.0, which was a bit better than the expected reading of 54.5. That report was released at the same time as October factory orders, which fell just 0.9% when a 1.3% drop had been anticipated.

The Dow and S&P 500 spent most of the afternoon stuck in a tight trading range with narrow losses while the Nasdaq held tightly to a slim gain. Financials had actually been a drag during most of the session, but the sector rallied late in the day to help drive the broader market higher into the close. The S&P 500 is now less than three points shy of its two-year high, which was set about one month ago. Financials were down as much as 1.2%, but ended the day with a 0.3% gain.

Materials stocks were the best performers of the day, though. They netted a 0.9% gain with help from higher commodity prices.

The CRB Commodity Index climbed 1.3%, which helped it achieve a 5% weekly gain. That represents the CRB's best weekly performance of the entire year. The CRB is now less than 2% shy of the two-year high that it set less than a month ago. Weakness in the dollar continues to bolster the commodity complex.

Volatility cooled further today. That took the Volatility Index down about 8%, as of the close of trade. More impressive is that it fell close to 20% for the week.

The dollar's precipitous drop today provided commodities with considerable price support. In turn, the CRB Commodity Index climbed 1.3%, which helped it achieve a 5% weekly gain. That makes for the CRB's best weekly performance of the entire year.

Though strength was broad among commodities, silver was a standout. The precious metal settled pit trade 2.5% higher at $29.27 per ounce. As for gold, it gained 1.3% to close pit trade at $1408 per ounce.

Crude oil also attracted buying interest. Its price was bid higher by 1.4% to $89.22 per barrel.

Natural gas lagged all session, but the commodity managed to pare its loss into the afternoon. It settled just below $4.34 per MMBtu, down 0.1% for the day.

Advancing Sectors: Materials (+0.9), Energy (+0.5%), Tech (+0.3%), Utilities (+0.3%), Industrials (+0.3%), Financials (+0.3%), Consumer Discretionary (+0.2%), Telecom (+0.1%), Health Care (+0.1%)
Declining Sectors: (None)
Unchanged: Consumer StaplesDJ30 +19.68 NASDAQ +12.11 NQ100 +0.3% R2K +0.7% SP400 +0.6% SP500 +3.18 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1581/1.81 bln/1017 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1851/908 mln/1119