YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: Stocks posted sharp losses on Monday as economic concerns and corporate job cuts continued to weigh on investor sentiment.

Stocks made a recovery attempt to briefly trade with a gain, but a surge in selling interest in the final minutes left the S&P 500 near its session low at the close. Trading action was choppy on below average volume. All ten economic sectors posted a loss.

In corporate news, Citigroup (C 8.87, -0.65) announced plans to slash as many as 52,000 jobs from its workforce, which totaled 352,000 at the end of the third quarter, in an effort to cut costs due to the financial market turmoil. Citi has already eliminated 36,000 positions in 2008. The financial sector was a laggard with a decline of 6.0%.

Lowe's (LOW 19.01, +0.78) topped expectations for the third quarter, but issued downside earnings guidance for the fourth quarter after warning that consumers will likely delay discretionary home improvement and big ticket purchases. The results were better-than-feared following downside guidance from several retailers last week, resulting in a bounce in shares of Lowe's.

Target (TGT 31.69, -1.34) reported in-line earnings, but decided to temporarily suspend its share repurchase program due to the uncertain economic environment. The retailer also cut its 2009 capital expenditure forecast by $1 billion. Retailers as a whole fell 2.7%.

The group of twenty finance ministers, known as the G-20, announced their latest initiatives, but did not produce any agreements that would alter the near-term picture in any meaningful way. Among other measures, the G-20 agreed to continue to use fiscal measures to help stimulate domestic demand and help developing economies gain access to credit. The G-20 also said there will be more international cooperation among regulators and that banks will meet stricter standards. For the next 12 months the G-20 countries will not implement any new trade barriers.

Economic conditions remain weak across the globe -- Japan officially fell into a recession for the first time since 2001, joining the Eurozone.

In U.S. economic news, industrial production bounced to an increase of 1.3% in October from a decrease of 3.7% in September. The increase should be seen as temporary as it was in part due to a recovery in mining (oil) and regional manufacturing output following hurricanes Gustav and Ike.

The November New York Empire Manufacturing Index, a regional manufacturing survey, declined to -25.4 from its October level of -24.6. While the reading reflects contraction in manufacturing in the New York region, it was slightly better than the -26.0 that economists expected.

Oil futures ($55.01, -3.6%) traded in a volatile manner, with OPEC cutting its 2009 demand forecast to 30.9 million barrels per day from 31.1 million. OPEC said evidence suggests the global economy will be weaker than the cartel had previously anticipated.DJ30 -223.73 NASDAQ -34.80 NQ100 -2.4% R2K -1.1% SP400 -1.6% SP500 -22.54 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 861/1.85 bln/1918 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 767/1.31 bln/2385