YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: Some ugly data sent stocks spiraling lower Thursday. The selloff slowed when the stock market approached its monthly low, though.

The tone on trading floors turned uneasy with this morning's release of initial jobless claims figures for the week ended August 14. Not only did the tally hit a half million for the first time since November, but it also exceeded the 475,000 claims that had been widely expected.

Early weakness was exacerbated by the worst Philadelphia Fed Index in just over a year. The Index's August reading was widely expected to come in at 7.5, but it dropped to -7.7 instead.

A gradual selloff ensued. The breadth of the selling effort took stocks through support levels of the two prior sessions and only eased when the S&P 500 came within reach of the August low that was set this past Monday.

Though technical support helped stocks stem their losses, pressure persisted into the close and stocks failed to squeeze higher in the final hour.

Widespread weakness stoked volatility, such that the Volatility Index spiked back above its 50-day moving average. The VIX was up about 7% at the close.

Heightened volatility coupled with the stock market's selloff sent participants into Treasuries. A preference for safety sent the yield on the 2-year Note to another new low - this time to almost 0.47%. Meanwhile, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Note hit a new 15-month low just under 2.56% and the yield on the 30-year Bond dropped to a 14-month low of 3.62%.

The dollar had started the session in the red as dour data and an improved GDP forecast from Germany's central bank initially led many to the euro. The currencies eventually reversed course so that the euro dropped to a 0.3% loss against the greenback and the Dollar Index settled with a 0.3% gain.

Consistent with the action of recent weeks, corporate news carried little sway with trade.

The latest round of earnings announcements featured a raft of retailers. Their numbers were generally mixed relative to expectations. As a group, shares of retailers gave up 1.5% this session.

The CRB Commodity Index finished lower today, shedding 0.6%, weighed on by concerns about economy. Four out of the six groups closed to the downside today, lead lower by a 1.4% decline in energy.

Sept crude oil settled lower by 1.3% to $74.43 per barrel, marking its seventh losing session in eight tries. Weakness in the equity markets pulled crude oil lower today. Sept natural gas finished down 1.6% to $4.17 per MMBtu.

Dec gold closed higher by 0.2% to $1235.40 per ounce, while Sept silver finished lower by 0.5% to $18.33 per ounce.

Tech stocks, which collectively account for the heaviest sector by market weight, shed 1.3%. That was actually one of the least severe downturns of the day. The sector's story of the day came early, when Intel (INTC 18.90, -0.69) announced that it will acquire McAfee (MFE 47.01, +17.08) for $48 per share in cash, or a 60% premium over the prior session's closing price. News of the buyout spurred a bid for other software companies, which topped today's short list of advancers.

Advancing Sectors: (None)
Declining Sectors: Financials (-2.4%), Materials (-2.2%), Industrials (-2.1%), Consumer Discretionary (-1.8%), Health Care (-1.7%), Energy (-1.5%), Telecom (-1.4%), Utilities (-1.4%), Tech (-1.3%), Consumer Staples (-1.1%)DJ30 -144.33 NASDAQ -36.75 NQ100 -1.5% R2K -2.7% SP400 -1.7% SP500 -18.53 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 500/2.10 bln/2134 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 551/1.07 bln/2452