YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: Weakness among financial issues took the broader market through a near-term technical support level to settle at a session low, and left the Dow to close below 10,000 for the first time in three months.

Financial stocks dropped 2.2% as participants pressured the sector after it had rallied this past Friday for a 1.2% gain. Financials traded as laggards for the entire session, but didn't drag down the broader market until late in the session.

Bank of America (BAC 14.48, -0.52) was one of the weakest performers within the financial sector. It was also a primary laggard among blue chips and helped drag down the Dow. Though the Dow has made intraday dips below the psychologically significant 10,000 level in recent sessions, this session marked the first time since early November that it actually closed below the mark.

Technical support had provided early support for the broader S&P 500 near the 1059 line in the early going and briefly into the close. However, sellers redoubled their efforts in the waning minutes of the session and caused stocks to close at session lows.

Broader market weakness inevitably dragged down shares of retailers from a 1.3% gain to a 0.2% loss. The group had found strength in better-than-expected earnings from CVS Caremark (CVS 32.72, +1.65) and Morgan Stanley's upgrade of Home Depot (HD 28.59, +0.61).

The dollar's move off of its session lows also weighed on stocks. The Dollar Index had been down 0.4% at its session low, but cut that to a 0.1% loss.

Despite that move, commodities were still able to book strong gains. As such, the CRB Commodity Index advanced to a 1.2% gain.

Advancing Sectors: (None)
Declining Sectors: Financials (-2.2%), Materials (-1.5%), Industrials (-1.1%), Utilities (-1.1%), Energy (-0.9%), Telecom (-0.8%), Tech (-0.5%), Consumer Discretionary (-0.4%), Health Care (-0.4%), Consumer Staples (-0.3%)DJ30 -103.84 NASDAQ -15.07 NQ100 -0.6% R2K -1.1% SP400 -0.7% SP500 -9.45 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 922/2.05 bln/1708 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1077/1.08 bln/1957