YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: The S&P 500 ended lower by 0.4%, snapping its streak of five consecutive gains.

After opening in the red, the major averages were able to shake off their early weakness before a wave of afternoon selling sent them to fresh lows.

The decline occurred amid speculation that a well-known reporter, who is considered to be a Fed-insider, may be hinting at changes to the Federal Reserve's quantitative easing program.

However, any change in policy would likely take an extended period of time to transpire with Chairman Bernanke first testing the waters with some "verbal" cues before any change in the policy would be made.

Defensively-oriented sectors finished among the laggards as the utilities space continued its recent weakness. The SPDR Utilities Select Sector ETF (XLU 39.74, -0.61) lost 1.5%. Since Monday, the sector has lost more than 4.0%.

The health care space was the only outperformer among defensive groups thanks to the relative strength of biotechnology. The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 174.89, +0.11) ended higher by 0.1% and contributed to the relative strength of the Nasdaq.

The consumer discretionary sector also settled with a gain as homebuilders advanced. The SPDR S&P Homebuilders ETF (XHB 31.47, +0.07) rose 0.2%.

In addition, discount retailers like Fred's (FRED 15.22, +0.17) and TJX Companies (TJX 50.69, +0.29) ended with gains after reporting better-than-expected same store sales.

Industrial shares displayed some intraday strength in defense stocks following a bottom-line beat from Precision Castparts (PCP 206.68, +14.66). The PHLX Defense Index settled higher by 0.3%.

Although defense stocks kept the industrial sector from logging further losses, the Dow Jones Transportation Average displayed weakness throughout the day. The bellwether complex lost 1.1% as 19 components ended lower.

The CBOE Volatility Index (VIX 13.17, +0.51) settled higher after spending the entire day in positive territory, suggesting downside protection was in demand throughout the session.

In the foreign exchange market, the Japanese yen fell below 100 per the dollar for the first time since April 2009.

Reviewing today's economic data, the initial claims level fell from an upwardly revised 327,000 (from 324,000) for the week ending April 27 to 323,000 for the week ending May 4. The Briefing.com consensus expected the initial claims level to increase to 336,000. Today's reading puts claims at their lowest level since January 2008.

Typically, a sub-350,000 initial claims level would imply that payrolls would grow by at least 200,000. However, with uncertain demand, it is not guaranteed that firms will add to their workforce.

Also of note, wholesale inventories increased 0.4% in March after declining 0.3% in February. The Briefing.com consensus expected wholesale inventories to increase 0.3%.

Tomorrow's economic news will be limited to the April Treasury budget, which is set to be reported at 14:00 ET. Among earnings of note, ArcelorMittal (MT 12.76, +0.01) will report its quarterly results before the opening bell.DJ30 -22.50 NASDAQ -4.10 SP500 -6.02 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 966/1.76 bln/1484 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1071/670.0 mln/1932

3:35 pm :

• June crude oil spent its entire floor session in negative territory as a stronger dollar index put pressure on prices. The energy component fell as low as $95.35 per barrel in morning action but gathered buying support in afternoon pit trade. It trended higher for the remainder of the session and settled at $96.32 per barrel, or 0.3% lower.
• June natural gas slid to a session low of $3.88 per MMBtu following a larger-than-anticipated build in inventories. However, the move was short lived as buyers stepped in and took prices above the breakeven level. Natural gas advanced to a session high of $4.02 per MMBtu and settled unchanged at $3.98 per MMBtu.
• June gold slid to a session low of $1458.80 per ounce following better than anticipated initial claims data. Today's reading put claims at their lowest level since January 2008. Despite a stronger dollar index, the yellow metal trended higher for the remainder of floor trade and settled at $1468.40 per ounce, or 0.4% lower.
• July silver also dipped to a session low of $23.69 per ounce in morning pit trade. Like gold, it found buying support and spent most of afternoon action chopping around just below the break-even level. It eventually settled just one penny lower at $23.91 per ounce.