YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: Last Friday's mixed finish was extended into this session's early action as a lack of market-moving headlines left participants with few cues for trade. That left the day's direction to be largely determined by the U.S. dollar, which came into closer focus amid comments from Fed Chairman Bernanke.

In a speech before the Economic Club of Washington D.C., Fed Chairman Bernanke indicated that the FOMC is looking to keep interest rates low for an extended period of time. The comment is consistent with the Fed's previous statements, but it helped quell concern that the better-than-expected November jobs figures released on Friday would lead the Fed to raise interest rates sooner than later. Such concern had caused some profit taking on Friday.

Bernanke's comments helped drive the greenback from a one-month high against competing currencies to a 0.6% loss. Stocks responded with a climb to afternoon highs, where they traded with modest gains.

However, stocks were unable to extend their upturn beyond morning highs and eventually rolled over. Their downturn also came in conjunction with greenback's move off of its lows -- the Dollar Index finished with a 0.2% loss. The broader equity market settled above its session low with a modest loss.

Financials felt considerable weakness for most of the session; they fell to a 1.6% loss. The financial sector was weighed down by weakness in shares of banks (-1.6%) and diversified financial services outfits (-1.8%). Citigroup (C 4.03, -0.03) was unable to win favor for the sector's many players after news reports said the company has asked to repay $20 billion of its bailout funds. Last week's news that Bank of America (BAC 15.89, -0.39) plans to repay its $45 billion TARP loan helped win temporary favor for financials.

On a related note, The Wall Street Journal reported that the total cost of TARP could be cut by $200 billion.

Telecom was the best performing sector this session. The sector booked a 1.8% gain, which added to its gains from last week. Telecom stocks have gained 4.2% during the last six sessions. That's second only to utilities, which gained 4.6% during that time.

Commodities finished in mixed fashion. Gold prices settled 0.5% lower at $1164 per ounce, while contract prices for oil closed 2.0% lower at $73.94 per barrel. However, natural gas prices surged 8.7% to $4.98 per contract amid reports of the return of cold weather. Strength in natural gas gave the CRB Commodity Index a modest 0.1% gain. That put an end to its three consecutive advances.

There was only a small dose of data this session, but it caused little reaction among market participants. As expected, consumer credit declined for the ninth consecutive month in October, but the drop far less than expected. The consensus called for a $9.4 billion decline, but the actual drop was only $3.5 billion. September's drop in consumer credit was revised upward to reflect a $8.8 billion decline. The positive surprise for October and the upward revision to September's figures suggest that consumer demand for additional funding has not been wiped out as consumers deleverage themselves. In fact, if the recent trends continue, growth in consumer credit could actually occur by year's end.

Advancing Sectors: Telecom (+1.8%), Utilities (+0.7%), Consumer Discretionary (+0.5%), Consumer Staples (+0.1%), Materials (+0.1%)
Declining Sectors: Financials (-1.6%), Tech (-0.5%), Energy (-0.3%), Health Care (-0.2%), Industrials (-0.1%)DJ30 +1.21 NASDAQ -4.74 NQ100 -0.5% R2K +0.1% SP400 -0.1% SP500 -2.73 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1381/1.88 bln/1329 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1630/941 mln/1402