YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: Most of this session was spent in choppy trade with modest gains, but a late flurry of buying boosted the stock market to its best intraday levels and highest close since September 2008.

Stocks spent the majority of the session broadly higher, but overall gains were held in check amid persistent wariness about the financial health of Greece. Those concerns became more real when analysts at Fitch downgraded Greece's debt rating to BBB-, but shortly thereafter Reuters reported that eurozone finance officials have reached a deal on how to provide loans to Greece if they are needed.

Though actual help to Greece could strain the coffers of other European Union members, the euro rallied. Its strength drove the Dollar Index down to a 0.7% loss.

Despite such pronounced weakness in the dollar, gains in the broader market remained contained until the close came within reach. However, a late surge in buying sent stocks to fresh 52-week highs in the face of suggestions that the stock market is near-term overbought. The Dow even kissed 11,000, but it settled just a few points below the widely-watched line.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners in the Dow by 4-to-1. Chevron (CVX 79.50, +1.84) was a primary leader after it issued an upbeat interim update. That helped it fight off softer crude oil prices, which settled 0.6% lower at $84.85 per barrel and lead the broader energy sector to a 1.1% gain.

Alcoa (AA 14.39, -0.48) was a laggard among blue chips. The stock was downgraded by analysts at JPMorgan.

Equities have trended upward in a narrow range this session. Energy is providing the most substantial leadership, currently up 1.0%.

Strength in energy commodities was led by natural gas. Natural gas futures reversed yesterday's steep losses (following another inventory report which added to bearish fundamentals yesterday morning) with a sharp gain. May natural gas closed 4.1% higher at $4.07 per MMBtu.

May crude oil, on the other hand, trended lower all morning. After hitting a session low at $84.12 per barrel, it closed 0.6% lower at $84.85 per barrel.

Gold and silver futures fared well as the dollar index was particularly weak this session. May silver opened the pit session higher and closed up 1.3% at $18.37 per ounce. June gold retreated to the flat line after opening with marginal gain. June gold then spiked to a session high at $1165.80 per ounce before closing at $1162.00 per ounce, up 0.8%.

While stocks finished at session highs with broad-based gains, the move still wasn't as strong as what was booked overseas. Specifically, the Dow Jones World Index, excluding the US, finished Friday 1.2% higher. However, the S&P 500 finished the week with a 1.4% gain, which marked its sixth straight weekly advance. The Dow Jones World Index Ex US finished the week a more modest 0.8% higher, its second straight weekly gain.

Advancing Sectors: Energy (+1.1%), Telecom (+0.9%), Consumer Discretionary (+0.9%), Tech (+0.8%), Utilities (+0.6%), Consumer Staples (+0.6%), Financials (+0.5%), Industrials (+0.5%), Health Care (+0.4%), Materials (+0.3%)
Declining Sectors: (None) DJ30 +70.28 NASDAQ +17.24 NQ100 +0.7% R2K +0.5% SP400 +0.9% SP500 +7.93 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1454/2.11 bln/1198 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2053/968 mln/968