YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: A smaller-than-expected decline in February nonfarm payrolls provided participants with a reason to bid stocks broadly higher, but financials booked the best gains for the second straight session.

Stocks spent the entire session in higher ground. The positive mood on Wall Street was reinforced by the latest Nonfarm Payrolls Report, which showed that just 36,000 jobs were lost in February when a decline of 68,000 had been widely expected. Additionally, the unemployment rate for February came in at 9.7%, which is below the 9.8% rate that had been widely forecast and unchanged from the January rate.

There had been some concern ahead of the jobs report that inclement weather in February might distort the figures, but a note from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) indicated that weather might not have been as large a factor as some had suggested. That helped legitimatize the smaller-than-expected drop in payrolls.

Though the unemployment rate still stands at an uncomfortable level, participants took heart that the data pointed to an improved outlook for the job environment.

Given that stronger labor conditions are expected to go hand in hand with a stronger economy, the greenback bounced from the flat line to a 0.4% gain as participants quickly considered the implications of a stronger economy on monetary policy. The dollar failed to sustain its gain, though; it finished fractionally lower.

Meanwhile, stocks put together their best percentage gain in two weeks as more than 90% of the names in the S&P 500 pushed higher. The stock market initially encountered some resistance, but it was able to regroup and climb to a new one-month high.

Financials provided leadership for the second straight session. This time they settled with a 2.0% gain as all 79 components in the S&P 500 financial sector advanced. Consumer finance stocks (+3.2%) were among the strongest performers, despite a downgrade of Capital One Financial (COF 37.94, +1.10) by analysts at Goldman Sachs.

Energy stocks weren't far behind. The sector advanced 1.8% with help from higher oil prices, which hit a fresh one-month high of $82.07 per barrel before they settled with a 1.6% gain at $81.50 per barrel.

Oil also provided support for the CRB Commodity Index, which closed with a 0.8% gain.

Trading volume remained rather unimpressive as little more than 1 billion shares exchanged hands on the NYSE this session. That has been a recurring theme, though. Specifically, trading volume this week averaged fewer than 1 billion shares per session.

Though the lack of participation would imply a lack of conviction among market participants, many investors still saw their money grow as the S&P 500 climbed to a weekly gain of more than 3%.

Advancing Sectors: Financials (+2.0%), Energy (+1.8%), Consumer Discretionary (+1.6%), Industrials (+1.5%), Tech (+1.4%), Materials (+1.4%), Health Care (+1.2%), Utilities (+1.1%), Consumer Staples (+0.5%), Telecom (+0.1%)
Declining Sectors: (None)DJ30 +122.06 NASDAQ +34.04 NQ100 +1.6% R2K +2.1% SP400 +1.5% SP500 +15.73 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 2152/2.34 bln/554 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2581/1.05 bln/478