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From Briefing.com: 4:30 pm : The latest FOMC policy statement and a weaker dollar helped bolster buying in stocks, but some late selling caused stocks to rollover in the final hour and close near the neutral line.

The major indices started the session in higher ground as participants responded to strong overseas gains and a downturn in the U.S. dollar. Gains among the major indices were both broad and strong.

Participants also digested in the early going the ADP Employment Change Report for October. The report indicated that last month private payrolls fell by 203,000, which is a bit worse than the 198,000 job losses that were widely expected. The ADP Report is a precursor to the official nonfarm payrolls report on Friday.

In other economic news, the ISM Services Index for October came in at 50.6. Though any reading above 50 denotes expansion, the October reading fell short of the 51.5 that had been forecast.

Reaction to the data was relatively muted as participants were largely focused on the latest FOMC policy statement, which was released midafternoon. The directive indicated that the FOMC will maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 0.00% to 0.25% and it continues to anticipate that economic conditions are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels of the federal funds rate for an extended period.

The statement was met with a volatile response by stocks, while the Dollar Index extended its losses. It settled with a 0.7% decline, its worst single-session percentage drop in two weeks.

As the dollar slid, both stocks and commodities showed strength. Gold futures prices had hit a new intraday record high around $1096.50 per ounce, but settled at $1087.30 per ounce with a fractional gain. However, in electronic trade, gold prices have ticked higher toward $1098 per ounce.

Meanwhile, oil futures prices settled 1.0% higher at $80.36 per barrel, helped along by the weaker greenback and an unexpected draw in weekly inventories. The gains by gold and oil helped drive the materials sector and energy sector more than 1% higher, respectively. Those gains vanished late in the session, though. The two sectors settled with losses of 0.1% each.

Late weakness came about as a broad-based selling effort took hold of stocks. Financials were at the center of the downturn, however. Financials were up as much as 1.6% in the early going, but steadily saw their gains erode before dropping sharply to a 1.5% loss late in trading. Multiline insurers (-3.8%) were among the worst performers in the sector.

However, managed care providers (+3.8%) fared well and helped the health care sector to a 1.3% gain, which was the best of any major sector. Strength in the sector came amid news from the Associated Press that the Senate's top Democrat signaled that Congress may fail to meet a year-end deadline for passing health care legislation. That could make for an uncertain outcome in 2010.

Earnings played somewhat of a supportive role in the early going, but had little lasting impact on this session's trade. Kraft (KFT 26.67, -0.87) was the only Dow component to report. It struggled as light revenue results overshadowed its better-than-expected earnings.

In other earnings news, broadcasters Time Warner (TWX 30.10, -0.06) and Comcast (CMCSA 14.06, -0.45) topped earnings expectations, but oil drillers and services outfits Baker Hughes (BHI 40.89, -2.54) and Transocean (RIG 84.41, -1.50) missed earnings estimates.

Advancing Sectors: Health Care (+1.3%), Tech (+0.7%), Utilities (+0.7%), Consumer Staples (+0.5%), Telecom (+0.4%)
Declining Sectors: Financials (-1.5%), Industrials (-0.2%), Consumer Discretionary (-0.1%), Energy (-0.1%), Materials (-0.1%)DJ30 +30.23 NASDAQ -1.80 NQ100 +0.1% R2K -1.3% SP400 -0.5% SP500 +1.09 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1048/2.23 bln/1631 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1623/1.35 bln/1398

4:44PM Microchip declares quarterly cash dividend on its common stock of 34 cents per share, up from 33.9 cents per share (MCHP) 24.41 +0.26 :

4:34PM Multi-Fineline reports EPS in-line, revs in-line; guides Q1 revs above consensus (MFLX) 27.94 +0.20 : Reports Q4 (Sep) earnings of $0.45 per share, in-line with the First Call consensus of $0.45; revenues fell 6.5% year/year to $199.2 mln vs the $198.8 mln consensus. Co issues upside guidance for Q1, sees Q1 revs of $225-240 mln vs. $222.96 mln consensus.

4:15PM Pericom Semi beats by $0.01, beats on revs; guides Q2 revs above consensus (PSEM) 9.23 -0.42 : Reports Q1 (Sep) earnings of $0.05 per share, $0.01 better than the First Call consensus of $0.04; revenues fell 24.7% year/year to $33 mln vs the $32 mln consensus. Co issues upside guidance for Q2, sees Q2 revs of $34-36 mln vs. $33.20 mln consensus. Gross margins are expected to be in the 32.5% to 34.0% range. Margins are influenced by the product mix of turns business and sales, if any, of previously reserved inventory. Gross margin in Q1 was 32.0%, increased from 28.7% last quarter, and down from 36.5% in the comparable period last year. "Our business has continued to improve with increased billings and bookings in FYQ1. We also entered the December quarter with higher backlog coverage as compared to last quarter. "In the first quarter we saw gross margins recover from the reduced levels of the previous quarter, a result of increased shipping volumes, reduced product costs and improved product mix. We expect to see continued improvement in our gross margins in FYQ2.

4:13PM ON Semiconductor beats by $0.06, beats on revs; guides Q4 revs above consensus (ONNN) 6.83 +0.30 : Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $0.16 per share, ex-items, $0.06 better than the First Call consensus of $0.10; revenues rose 12.6% year/year to $472.9 mln vs the $454.9 mln consensus. Co reports Q3 gross margin of 38.5% vs. 36.7% street expectation. Co issues upside guidance for Q4, sees Q4 revs of $480-$495 mln vs. $467.25 mln consensus. Co sees Q4 gross margin of 38-39% Co states, "Backlog levels at the beginning of the fourth quarter of 2009 were up from backlog levels at the beginning of the third quarter of 2009 and represent over 90 percent of our anticipated fourth quarter 2009 revenues. We expect that average selling prices for the fourth quarter of 2009 will be down approximately one to two percent, sequentially."

4:09PM Cisco Systems beats by $0.05, beats on revs; increases buyback by $10 bln (CSCO) 23.29 +0.38 : Reports Q1 (Oct) earnings of $0.36 per share, $0.05 better than the First Call consensus of $0.31; revenues fell 12.6% year/year to $9 bln vs the $8.74 bln consensus. Cisco Systems reports gross margin 65% vs 64.3% Street estimate, 64% guidance. "We delivered earnings per share on a GAAP basis of $0.30 and non-GAAP of $0.36, which were above our expectations, driven by balance across a broad portfolio and intense focus on execution. Our results validate our strategy and portfolio approach of balancing disciplined expense management with strategic investment, to drive continued profitability through varying economic environments... Building off what we saw as a clear tipping point in Q4, our Q1 results continued to reflect strong sequential growth trends that meet or exceed expectations during normal economic times. We view the improving economic outlook, combined with solid execution on our growth strategy, as creating unparalleled opportunity to drive more value into the core of the network. Simply said, we believe that key market transitions across collaboration, virtualization and video will drive productivity and growth in network loads for the next decade, and are evolving even faster than expected... "Our ability to launch four proposed acquisitions, the ecosystem-shifting coalition with EMC/VMware, and five new products and industry solutions into the Cisco pipeline in the past few months alone underscore this momentum. Our build -- buy -- partner innovation engine is clearly running on all cylinders, while our operational machine is pulling costs out of the business even as we scale new models for growth. Execution and results over time will demonstrate the long-term impact of this vision and strategy -- but a new model of productivity based on collaboration is clearly emerging and we believe this may be the most profound opportunity for businesses in our 25 years as a company." Cisco also announced that on November 4, 2009 its board of directors authorized up to $10 billion in additional repurchases of its common stock. Cisco's board had previously authorized up to $62 billion in stock repurchases. There is no fixed termination date for the repurchase program. The remaining authorized amount for stock repurchases under this program, including the additional authorization, is approximately $13.1 billion.

4:07PM O2Micro misses by $0.02, misses on revs (OIIM) : Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $0.01 per share, $0.02 worse than the First Call consensus of $0.03; revenues fell 3.2% year/year to $36.6 mln vs the $37.4 mln consensus.

9:13AM Suntech Power: enXco announced agreement with Suntech to supply up to 115 megawatts of solar panels in 2010 (STP) 12.71 : EDF Energies Nouvelles announced yesterday that it has entered into a sales agreement with STP to supply up to 115 megawatts of photovoltaic modules in 2010.

STEC (STEC) announces that its ZeusIOPS SSDs have been integrated into IBM's SAN Volume Controller system delivering improved system efficiency over SVC systems using traditional hard disk drives.

Cree (CREE) has been selected to provide energy-efficient LED lighting to Walmart (WMT) for new stores and renovations. Walmart plans to install Cree LRP-38 LED light bulbs in 650 stores during the first year, replacing ceramic metal halide in the produce and electronics departments...

Powerwave Technologies, Inc. (PWAV) announced the expansion of its worldwide operations with the grand opening of its newest manufacturing facility located in Laem Chabang in Chonburi Province, Thailand...