YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: Stocks spent most of the session mired in negative territory with a modest loss after they failed to push past a key technical hurdle, but losses quickly steepened as sellers redoubled their efforts in the final hour of trade.

The tone for most of the session was relatively tepid as buyers took a breather after they had sent the stock market up more than 5% higher during the course of the three previous sessions. That streak of gains put the S&P 500 face-to-face with its 50-day moving average, but a lack of positive catalysts made it difficult for the stock market to challenge the technical line with any sort of conviction.

The only economic data for the day was a lackluster weekly jobless claims report, which featured 444,000 initial claims and 4.63 million continuing claims. The initial claims tally was in-line with expectations and the continuing claims count was a bit higher than expected, but both remain at heightened levels.

Cisco (CSCO 25.53, -1.21) was the biggest name in a small batch of quarterly reports. The communications equipment maker and marketer brought in better-than-expected earnings and issued an in-line revenue forecast, but participants still shunned its shares. The stock was a weight on all three major indices and among the heaviest drags in the tech sector, which shed 1.4%.

Financials fell to a 1.7% loss. Moody's (MCO 21.70, -0.59) saw some whipsaw trade following news that the Senate Finance Committee voted on an amendment to create a clearinghouse to assign rating agencies to debt issues.

Discretionary plays were among the weakest performers following downside guidance from Kohl's (KSS 53.81, -3.34). Disappointment over the retailer's outlook overshadowed its better-than-expected earnings and played a part in a collective loss of 3.0% for retailers and a loss of 2.1% for the consumer discretionary sector.

Defensive-oriented stocks fared relatively well this session. Telecom tacked on 0.2% and the utilities limited their loss to 0.6%, half of what the S&P 500 recorded. However, their lack of market weight left the broader market without much in the way of actual leadership.

The lack of a positive force caught up with stocks as sellers intensified their efforts late in the session. That left the major averages to close near session lows and drove volatility higher.

Some rotated into the dollar, which advanced 0.6% to set a fractionally improved 52-week high against a basket of competing currencies. The British pound was especially weak relative to the dollar; it sank 1.4% to 1.4613 per dollar. The euro was also weak; it dropped 0.6% to 1.2532 per dollar, just above its 12-month low.

Treasuries saw some seesaw trade. Their closing gains stemmed largely from the stock market's late slide. Prior to the late advance the bond market came under pressure after results from an auction of 30-year Bonds drew a bid-to-cover of 2.60, which was unimpressive relative to the previous auction's ratio of 2.73, yet strong when compared to the 2.36 ratio that came with the last auction of this size in February.

Stocks spent most of the session mired in negative territory with a moderate loss, but sellers have intensified their efforts in recent action. That has caused stocks to roll over to fresh session lows as they enter the final leg of trade.

Commodities already closed the pit trade with a collective loss of 0.4%, as measured by the CRB Commodity Index. Grains experienced the steepest decline of 1.3%, led by a 2.5% decline in wheat futures.

Energy commodities finished nearly 1% lower this session. June crude oil surged mid-session to hit a high at $76.45 before paring all of its gains to close down 1.7% at $74.40 per barrel. Meanwhile, natural gas offset weakness in the energy space. The June contract closed 0.8% higher at $4.34 per MMBtu.

Precious metals were hampered by strength in the dollar this session. June gold closed 1.1% lower at $1229.20 per ounce. July silver closed 0.8% lower at $19.50 per ounce.

Advancing Sectors: Telecom (+0.2%)
Declining Sectors: Consumer Discretionary (-2.1%), Financials (-1.7%), Industrials (-1.4%), Tech (-1.4%), Materials (-1.3%), Health Care (-1.0%), Energy (-0.8%), Utilities (-0.6%), Consumer Staples (-0.5%) DJ30 -113.96 NASDAQ -30.66 NQ100 -1.5% R2K -0.9% SP400 -0.9% SP500 -14.23 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 969/2.30 bln/1719 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1089/1.20 bln/1972