YAHOO[BRIEFING.COM]: Renewed financial and economic concerns spurred an unrelenting selling effort that took stocks to multimonth lows and kept them there for virtually the entire session. Both the blue chip Dow Jones Industrial Average and the broader S&P 500 closed the session at its lowest point since registering bear market lows in November.

The major indices are back at key technical levels after climbing above them last week. Revisiting the support levels has led to conjecture whether stocks will find support at technical levels and rally, or break to new bear market lows. There S&P found some support at 790 during the session, but still closed below that level.

Weakness was deep and broad-based. All 10 of the major sectors in the S&P 500 spent the entire session in the red. Approximately 98% of all the companies in the S&P 500 closed lower.

Financials were the worst performing sector. The sector closed 9.8% lower with particular weakness in consumer finance (-11.9%), diversified financial companies (-12.2%), and diversified banks (-13.1%). Financials registered a new 52-week intraday low and a new 52-week closing low.

The financial sector's drop reflects continued concerns that bank balance sheets may still be under pressure amid waning capital.

Such was the case in Europe, where word a Moody's report citing stress in Eastern Europe's banks undercut major European bourses. Meanwhile, Asian financial stocks fell in the wake news Woori Financial became South Korea's first lender to tap a bank recapitalization fund, and Japan's Mitsubishi UFJ Financial issued a larger debt offering than initially planned. The declines overseas helped fuel initial weakness in the U.S.

As part of an effort to distinguish strong banks and arrange a blend of public and private capital, regulators may begin stress-testing banks this week. Still, there is skepticism that such a move will have any immediate impact on restoring conditions in the financial system or the broader economy.

Investors also remain unimpressed by the $787 billion economic stimulus plan, which was signed into law this afternoon. The plan isn't expected to provide an immediate boost to conditions in the near term.

Weak economic conditions continue to weigh on oil prices. Crude oil futures fell nearly 7% to finish the session at $34.95 per barrel. Crude futures prices are now down 75% from their highs.

The general weakness this session has also led to buying in gold. Gold is up 3.2% to $971.30 per ounce. It has gained in four of the last five sessions.

Given the weight of concerns for the financial system and broader economy, a relatively positive batch of earnings data was generally treated with disinterest. Wal-Mart (WMT 48.24, +1.71) bested quarterly earnings estimates, and issued in-line guidance. It was the only Dow component to trade with a gain, but its report provided little support to the broader market. Teva Pharmaceuticals (TEVA 45.78, +1.77) posted better-than-expected results and increased its quarterly dividend. Medtronic (MDT 34.56, +1.75) also topped expectations. Illinois Tool Works (ITW 32.96, -2.16) issued in-line earnings guidance. Kraft (KFT 24.72, -0.48) and ConAgra (CAG 16.26, +0.04) both reaffirmed their earnings outlooks. DJ30 -297.81 NASDAQ -63.70 NQ100 -4.0% R2K -4.3% SP400 -4.2% SP500 -37.67 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 399/2.15 bln/2280 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 218/1.61 bln/2895