YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: A weaker dollar helped put stocks in higher ground in the early going, but broader market support faded in the wake of the latest statement from the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC).

Early gains were broad based as the dollar dipped as much as 0.4% against a basket of foreign currencies in the early going. The Nasdaq was even able to log a fresh 52-week high.

However, support for stocks started to fade ahead of the latest FOMC directive and then buckled in the report's wake.

The FOMC stated that economic activity has continued to pick up and that deterioration in the labor market is abating. The FOMC also expressed that conditions in the financial markets are improving, so some of the Fed's special liquidity facilities will soon end as planned.

More notably, the FOMC indicated that the target range for the federal funds rate will remain at 0.00% to 0.25% and that economic conditions, including low rates of resource utilization, subdued inflation trends, and stable inflation expectations, are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels of the federal funds rate for an extended period. The overall language in the statement is consistent with previous statements, so it helped calm concerns that the Fed may look to raise interest rates sooner than later.

Despite that, the greenback advanced against competing currencies and gave the Dollar Index a momentary gain. The Dollar Index settled with a fractional loss.

Though the dollar was able to improve its position, support for commodities remained strong. That gave the CRB Commodity Index a 1.6% gain, its best by percent in three weeks, and helped the materials sector outperform. Materials stocks advanced 1.0%, led by diversified metals and miners (+1.7).

Energy stocks also looked strong. They advanced 0.5% as oil prices closed 2.8% higher at $72.68 per barrel. Early weakness in the dollar and a larger-than-expected weekly inventory draw of 3.69 million barrels underpinned oil's strength.

Financials also showed strength in the face of the broader market's afternoon downturn. The sector settled with a 0.7% gain, though regional banks (-0.6%) traded with continued weakness.

Homebuilders were among this session's best performers. They climbed 5.0% amid data that indicated housing starts for November hit an annualized rate of 574,000 units, which matched the consensus and marked an increase from the rate registered the previous month. Building permits for November hit an annualized rate of 584,000, which bested the rate of 570,000 that had been widely forecast. It also topped the rate of 551,000 that was registered in October.

The November Consumer Price Index increased 0.4% month-over-month, which matches the consensus estimate. Excluding food and energy, consumer prices were flat for the month, but they had been expected to rise 0.1%. Since the CPI data generally matched expectations, it didn't cause any meaningful stir in the broader market.

Advancing Sectors: Materials (+1.0%), Financials (+0.7%), Energy (+0.5%), Tech (+0.4%), Consumer Discretionary (+0.2%)
Declining Sectors: Utilities (-0.4%), Consumer Staples (-0.4%), Health Care (-0.4%) Telecom (-0.3%), Industrials (-0.3%)DJ30 -10.88 NASDAQ +5.86 NQ100 +0.2% R2K +0.8% SP400 +0.5% SP500 +1.25 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1568/2.02 bln/1128 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1967/1.16 bln/1058