YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: Some late buying helped the stock market finish the session at its high point and secure its fifth straight gain, a feat that hasn't happened in one month. What's more, stocks logged a weekly gain of 4.5%, which is the best weekly performance since July.

This session's advance was solid and broad-based as every major sector, except telecom (-0.8%), finished higher. Tech (+1.1%) and health care (+1.0) were the best performing sectors.

Unlike recent sessions, the advance came in the face of a stronger U.S. dollar, which gained 0.6% against a basket of major foreign currencies after Fed Chairman Bernanke said last evening that the Fed can't indefinitely continue its policy accommodation for fear of triggering inflationary pressure. The statement wasn't anything new, but it was enough to lend support in the context of the dollar's recent doldrums.

The dollar's strength did threaten to undercut stocks stocks midsession, but the broader market garnered support as the S&P 500 slipped toward the neutral line.

Strength in the dollar did undercut precious metals prices. In turn, gold futures closed with a 0.7% loss at $1048.71 per ounce as they pulled back from the record highs of $1062.70 per ounce that were reached in the previous session. Silver prices closed down 0.8% at $17.68 per ounce.

Crude oil futures were able to break free from the dollar's hold, however. Oil prices had been down more than 1% in the early going, but recovered to settle with a fractional gain at $71.93 per barrel. Natural gas prices weren't so fortunate; they closed down 4.0% at $4.77 per contract, near session lows.

Treasuries were out of favor for the entire session as traders continued the selling effort that began shortly after Thursday's 30-year Bond auction. The benchmark 10-year Note dropped more than one full point, while the 30-year Bond dropped more than two points. Recent losses have lifted their respective yields to roughly 3.4% and 4.2%. DJ30 +78.07 NASDAQ +15.35 NQ100 +0.6% R2K +1.2% SP400 +0.7% SP500 +6.01 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1815/1.95 bln/858 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1804/989 mln/1188