YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: Profit taking in the wake of slower-than-expected economic growth in Japan triggered a global sell-off that sent stocks below their recent trading ranges and handed the major U.S. indices their worst single-session percentage loss in six weeks.

With stocks looking overextended in the near term, overseas participants moved against stocks upon learning that Japan's economy expanded at a slower-than-expected rate of 0.9% in the second quarter. In turn, Japan's Nikkei shed 3.1%, while several other major Asian averages also finished with losses exceeding 3%. Stocks in Europe followed suit, but their decline wasn't quite as sharp. Overall weakness among the major global indices sent the Dow Jones World Index to a 2.9% loss, which is its worst since April. The steep decline comes just one session after the global index registered a high for 2009.

Emboldened sellers pushed the S&P 500 to a considerably lower start, but that was the extent of the session's excitement -- the benchmark index spent the rest of the session trading sideways in an extremely narrow range. One interesting point, though, was that the stock market's pullback didn't bring out any buyers looking to buy the dip as has been the case in recent weeks. The absence of that support left the stock market to fall to its lowest level since July.

All 10 major sectors in the S&P 500 finished lower. Financials suffered the most by dropping 4.3%. Banks were sharply out of favor as diversified banks fell 5.1% and regional banks dropped 5.8%.

Consumer discretionary stocks (-3.2%) also suffered. Broader market weakness, along with an earnings miss and a disappointing forecast from Lowe's (LOW 20.47, -2.36) weighed on the group.

Health care stocks held up rather well, however. The sector actually spent most of the session in the green, but faltered into the close and settled with a fractional loss. Managed health care providers (+2.7%) underpinned the sector's relative strength, thanks to news that President Obama is willing to accept insurance cooperatives instead of a government-run insurance plan.

Even though health care is the third largest sector by market weight in the S&P 500, its relative strength wasn't enough for the broader market, which saw more than 90% of its holdings finish in the red.

The broader market was also unimpressed by news that the Empire State Manufacturing Index posted its first positive reading since April 2008 by coming in at a better-than-expected 12.08. It was also the best reading since November 2007.

Participants were also largely unsurprised by news that the Fed and Treasury opted to extend the Term Asset-backed Securities Lending Facility (TALF) in order to help keep credit and liquidity conditions greased. The announcement, along with broader market weakness, did bolster buying among Treasuries, though. That helped the benchmark 10-year Note climb a robust 28 ticks, which pushed its yield below 3.5% for the first time since July.DJ30 -186.06 NASDAQ -54.68 NQ100 -2.9% R2K -2.8% SP400 -2.8% SP500 -24.36 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 469/1.94 bln/2184 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 336/1.22 bln/2728