YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: More broad-based buying sent stocks to fresh 52-week highs in the face of a surprise downward revision to third quarter GDP and a gain by the greenback.

An extension of the previous session's buying effort positioned stocks for a strong start this morning, but the mood was tempered by news that third quarter GDP was determined to have increased at a slower-than-expected annualized rate of 2.2%, according to the third and final estimate. The consensus prediction called for no revisions to the 2.8% increase that had been posted in the previous estimate.

However, buyers weren't dissuaded by the data. Their case was strengthened by existing home sales figures for November. The data showed that existing home sales climbed at a stronger-than-expected clip of 7.4% month-over-month. That lifted the annualized rate to 6.54 million units, which exceeded the average prediction that sales would climb to a rate of 6.25 million units.

Shortly after the release of the home sales figures, the S&P 500 set a fresh 52-week high. It wasn't led by any individual name or sector; rather, its source of support was broad. Such broad-based buying helped the Nasdaq Composite and the Amex Airline Index (XAL 34.17, +1.49) put in fresh 52-week highs of their own. The Nasdaq actually closed near those highs.

The broader stock market wasn't able to close at its session highs, but it did successfully work through some moderate midsession selling pressure that stemmed from a bounce by the greenback. The dollar had a mixed start, but it firmed up and climbed against competing currencies to take the Dollar Index to a fresh three-month high. It finished off of that mark with a gain of 0.2%.

This session's trading volume wasn't very high; fewer than 1 billion shares exchanged hands on the NYSE. Such low trading volume often enables stocks to move more than they ordinarily would during a day with more typical levels of trading volume. Perhaps more importantly, low share volume often suggests a lack of conviction behind the market's move.

Nonetheless, the buying effort pushed volatility lower for the second straight session. In turn, the Volatility Index stands at a new 52-week low.

Treasuries continued to tumble, too. The benchmark 10-year Note shed 18 ticks and saw its yield rise to 3.75% for the first time since August.

Advancing Sectors: Telecom (+1.0%), Materials (+0.7%), Tech (+0.6%), Energy (+0.5%), Consumer Staples (+0.4%), Health Care (+0.4%), Financials (+0.3%), Consumer Discretionary (+0.2%), Industrials (+0.1%)
Declining Sectors: Utilities (-0.7%)DJ30 +50.79 NASDAQ +15.01 SP500 +3.97 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1585/1.72 bln/1098 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1900/955 mln/1114