YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: More merger and acquisition activity boosted stocks at the beginning of the session, but technical resistance was quick to send the broader market back to the neutral line. Trade was then range bound until a late session slip left stocks to settle at their lows.

Hewlett-Packard (HPQ 39.04, -0.81) announced this morning that it will pay cash to acquire 3Par (PAR 26.09, -8.05) for $24 per share, which marks a 33% premium over the $18 per share that Dell (DELL 11.94, -0.13) had already offered to pay for 3Par. The preference for an all cash transaction suggests to some that HP believes its shares are undervalued.

Last week BHP Billiton (BHP 67.13, -0.31) offered to acquire Potash (POT 150.20, +0.53) for $130 per share, but Potash officially refused. Instead, the company is interested in alternative transactions with third parties.

Though nothing has been confirmed, Campbell Soup (CPB 36.90, +0.26) is reportedly interested in a unit of Britain's United Biscuits, while SABMiller is contemplating Aussie brewer Foster's.

All of the M&A activity, whether rumored or actual, was treated as a bullish sign as stocks climbed almost 1%. However, early participants showed their lack of conviction when the S&P 500 lost momentum upon hitting 1081, which marked the 50% retracement of its downturn from last week's intraday high to last week's intraday low.

Buyers never tried their efforts again and stocks were left to plod along the neutral line before slipping late in the session. The final leg down made for the stock market's lowest close in over one month.

Tech stocks fell 1.0%. Given that they make up almost 20% of the S&P 500's capitalization, they had the most adverse impact on trade. Tech's weakness was even more pronounced in the Nasdaq, which lagged its counterparts for the entire session.

Defensive-oriented utilities were strong. The sector finished with a 0.6% gain as multi-utilities advanced 0.8%.

The CRB Commodity Index started the session modestly higher, but it settled with a 0.4% loss. Most of the move lower stemmed from a downswing in oil prices. Oil prices had been almost as high as $74.50 per barrel before they settled pit trade with a 1.0% loss at $73.11 per barrel. Prices actually set a new one-month low of $72.75 per barrel prior to the close. Natural gas prices gave up 1.1% to close at $4.07 per MMBtu. They spent the session between $4.03 and $4.13 per MMBtu. Gold prices fell fractionally to close at $1228.60 per ounce, while silver settled 0.1% higher at $17.99 per ounce. Respectively, their highs were $1228.90 and $18.07 per ounce, while their lows were $1222.90 and $17.89 per ounce.

The greenback booked a 0.2% gain as participants showed a preference for the currency once stocks in the broader market started to weaken. The dollar had actually been down in the early going. DJ30 -39.21 NASDAQ -20.13 SP500 -4.33 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 673/1.71 bln/1937 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1105/864 mln/1889