U.S. stocks rose for the first time in four days, while the dollar strengthened amid a recommendation to buy the currency a week before the Federal Reserve is anticipated to raise interest rates. Crude oil fell for a fifth day.

The Standard & Poor's 500 Index almost erased a 1 percent gain in the final 90 minutes of the session, with the advance stalling at the gauge's average price for the past 200 days. The gain is the first since a three-day slide erased 2 percent after last week's payrolls data hardened the consensus on Wall Street for a Fed rate hike. The dollar hovered near the highest in a decade as Citigroup Inc. called the greenback "attractive." Crude sank below $37 a barrel to settle at a six-year low.

The Fed meeting is expected to confirm that Chair Janet Yellen believes the world's biggest economy is strong enough to cope with the first increase in borrowing costs since 2006. Still, investors are caught between optimism about U.S, growth and concern that a slowdown in China and the consequent tumble in commodities will damp global growth prospects. Oil's slump since OPEC's decision to effectively abandon its production target has unsettled global financial markets.

The S&P 500 rose 0.3 percent at 4 p.m. in New York, ending just below its 50-day moving average. The gauge is little changed for the year after closing 3.7 percent away from its all-time high set in May. It climbed within 1.4 percent of the record last week.

Energy shares paced gains, rising 0.8 percent even as crude extended losses. Industrial shares climbed as airlines led gains. Materials producers fell 0.8 percent for the biggest contribution to losses, as DuPont Co. and Dow Chemical Co. gave back some of Wednesday's gains.

A report tomorrow on retail sales and producer prices will probably show stronger growth for November, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg. The data aren't expected to impact the Fed's decision, with traders pricing in an 80 percent chance that the rates will rise on Dec. 16.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index fell 0.3 percent for a third day of losses as a rally in commodity producers failed to lift sentiment. The region's shares earlier extended their lowest levels since Oct. 21 as most industry groups declined.