YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: The latest monthly payrolls report and a raft of analyst rating revisions made up for a lack of corporate headlines this session. Though the general reaction to those reports was negative, stocks still managed to make their way higher.

The early tone to trade was negative as participants pressured stocks upon learning that December nonfarm payrolls dropped by 85,000, which took many by surprise since the consensus called for no change to payrolls. However, nonfarm payrolls for November were revised upward to show an increase of 4,000 jobs. That marked the first payroll increase in two years and helped keep the unemployment rate at 10.0%, which was expected.

Financials caught the brunt of the early selling effort and trailed for most of the session, but trimmed their losses to finish 0.5% in the red. News that analysts at Citigroup cut their estimates for Goldman Sachs (GS 174.31, -3.36), Morgan Stanley (MS 32.25, -0.67), and JPMorgan Chase (JPM 44.68, -0.11) triggered some profit taking after the financial sector had climbed 6.4% during the previous four sessions. Financials still netted a weekly gain of nearly 6%.

Analysts at JP Morgan hit Coca-Cola (KO 55.15, -1.04), Colgate-Palmolive (CL 81.51, -1.49), and Alberto-Culver (ACV 29.14, -0.55) with downgrades, which weighed on the defensive-oriented consumer staples sector and sent it to a 0.5% loss.

Retailers had to contend with some downgrades, too, but they were able to cut their loss for the session to 0.1%. Still, Macy's (M 16.92, -0.57) wasn't so fortunate; news of a downgrade by analysts at Goldman Sachs sent the company's shares sharply lower, which reversed the gains that came when the company increased its earnings outlook in the previous session.

Tech stocks bounced back from a recent fit of weakness. Tech was the best performing sector in 2009, booking a 60% annual gain, but it has lagged in the new year. However, renewed support for large-cap issues helped drive the sector to a 0.8% gain this session. They also helped the Nasdaq outperform its counterparts.

Schnitzer Steel (SCHN 55.95, +3.26) was one of the few companies that was out with its latest quarterly results since the previous session's close. The company brought in better-than-expected earnings of $0.23 per share for its latest quarter. That helped steel stocks climb 4.3% this session and 12.7% for the week.

Strength among steel stocks combined with gains from other raw materials stocks, thanks partly to a 0.6% drop by the dollar, to drive the materials sector to a 1.0% gain.

Industrial stocks made up this session's best performing sector. Their 1.5% advance added to the 1.3% gain that they booked in the previous outing. Despite the move, the sector lacked the influence to make it a legitimate leader for the broader market.

Still, the stocks were able to catch a late bid that helped the broader market break free from an afternoon of sideways chop. The support helped stocks finish higher for the fifth straight session and gave the stock market a weekly gain of 2.7%, which marks its best weekly performance in two months.

Advancing Sectors: Industrials (+1.5%), Materials (+1.0%), Tech (+0.8%), Energy (+0.5%), Health Care (+0.3%)
Declining Sectors: Financials (-0.5%), Consumer Staples (-0.5%), Telecom (-0.5%), Utilities (-0.1%)
Unchanged: Consumer DiscretionaryDJ30 +11.33 NASDAQ +17.12 NQ100 +0.9% R2K +0.4% SP400 +0.6% SP500 +3.29 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1666/2.16 bln/993 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1840/994 mln/1174