YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: The broad market was able to fight through moderate selling pressure this morning, but gains didn't come until after the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) issued its latest Policy Statement. The afternoon advance eventually gained enough momentum to take the stock market to a new multi-month high.

A blowout quarterly report from Apple (AAPL 446.66, +26.25) helped prop up the Nasdaq and the rest of the tech sector (+1.0%) this morning, but most stocks started the session in the red. Of little inspiration were better-than-expected earnings from Boeing (BA 75.82, +0.46), United Technologies (UTX 77.65, -0.13), and ConocoPhillips (COP 69.98, -0.63) as Europe's bourses traded lower amid further frustration surrounding Greece's failure to compromise with its creditors.

Selling pressure slowly eased, but buyers didn't really step in until the FOMC announced that it will keep the federal funds rate at 0.00% to 0.25%. It also stated that economic conditions are likely to warrant such exceptionally low rates through at least late 2014.

The ensuing advance was temporarily interrupted when the Fed disclosed that it now expects GDP for 2012 to grow in a range of 2.2% to 2.7% this year, down from the range of 2.5% to 2.9% that it had stated previously. Fed Chairman Bernanke acknowledged, though, that if inflation remains below target and employment remains slow there is a case for further policy action.

Materials stocks scored some of the strongest gains overall; the sector settled 1.6% higher. Energy stocks were able to turn an early loss of about 1% into a 1.1% gain. Their effort was likely complemented by a climb in commodity prices.

General weakness among commodities this morning had the CRB Index in the red, but it was able to swing to a 0.5% gain. The dollar's downturn helped make its climb a little easier.

Treasuries also traded higher today, but they settled shy of their session highs. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Note saw its yield drop below 2.00% before it eventually worked its way back to that mark. Also in the mix was an auction of 5-year Notes that drew a bid-to-cover of 3.17, dollar demand of $111.0 billion, and an indirect bidder participation rate of 43.3%. For comparison, the prior auction attracted a bid-to-cover ratio of 2.86, dollar demand of $100.1 billion, and an indirect bidder rate of 50.6%, while an average of the past six auctions results in a bid-to-cover of 2.88, dollar demand of $100.8 billion, and an indirect bidder rate of 45.1%.

While stocks, commodities, and Treasuries responded positively to the Fed's commentary, the dollar took a dive. It had been up markedly in morning trade, but was down about 0.5% by session's end.

The first piece of actual domestic data in three days was the latest monthly pending home sales report. It showed that pending home sales for December fell 3.5%, which is slightly steeper than the 3.0% decline that had been generally expected.

Most commodities overcame a weak start to stage an impressive advance. That gave the CRB Index a 0.5% gain after it had been down modestly this morning.

Natural gas was a standout for the third straight session. The energy component extended its climb off of last week's multi-year low by advancing another 6.6% to $2.73 per MMBtu.

Oil prices rallied despite news that weekly crude oil inventories experienced a greater build than had been expected. Oil actually turned an early loss of more than 1% into a 1% gain before easing back to settle the session at $99.49 per barrel, about 0.5% higher for the day.

Precious metals were mired in negative territory this morning, but both silver and gold rallied to strong gains. Specifically, gold closed at $1700.60 per ounce for a 2.1% gain, while silver settled at $32.00 per ounce for a 3.5% gain. Silver prices were actually off by about 1% this morning.

Advancing Sectors: Materials +1.6%, Utilities +1.6%, Industrials +1.2%, Energy +1.1%, Tech +1.0%, Consumer Staples +1.0%, Consumer Discretionary +0.7%, Health Care +0.7%, Telecom +0.3%, Financials +0.2%
Declining Sectors: (None)DJ30 +83.10 NASDAQ +31.67 NQ100 +1.3% R2K +1.0% SP400 +1.0% SP500 +11.41 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1682/1.94 bln/851 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 287/830 mln/723