YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: Equities hit session lows during the first hour of trade before spending the rest of the session climbing off those levels. Headlines out of Europe indicated the International Monetary Fund sees a "major challenge" in implementing measures for Greece. Another comment which rattled the markets came from Slovak Prime Minister, Robert Fico, who suggested there is a 50% chance of a euro area breakup. The news resulted in a sharp sell-off in risk assets as crude oil, gold, silver, and the euro all fell to session lows. Stocks were able to recover some of their losses before succumbing to late-day selling pressure which resulted in the S&P 500 closing lower by 0.8%.

Consumer staples showed slimmer losses than other sectors. Within the space, Costco Wholesale (COST 98.59, +1.48) advanced 1.5% after August same store sales increased by 6.0%. Other consumer names like Procter & Gamble (PG 66.88, +0.01), and CVS Caremark (CVS 45.20, -0.23) chopped around the unchanged line throughout the session as they resisted the broad market pressure.

Healthcare stocks also outperformed as few components moved on news. Sarepta Therapeutics (SRPT 14.40, +1.80) surged 14.3% after receiving some positive press over the course of the week. Today's advance came after a CBS affiliate in Jackson, MO profiled a 12-year old patient whose quality of life has improved exponentially thanks to Sarepta's Eteplirsen, which is a drug used in treatment of muscular dystrophy. Meanwhile, Sucampo Pharma (SCMP 4.98, +0.15) ended higher by 3.1% after the company's only holder of class B common stock converted all of its shares into class A common stock. Elsewhere, Geron (GERN 2.63, +0.22) and Oncolytics Biotech (ONCY 2.77, +0.13) moved higher after Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage with a ‘buy' rating. The two stocks gained 9.1% and 4.9%, respectively on the news.

A handful of technology firms reported their earnings since yesterday's close. TIVO (TIVO 9.04, -0.32) slipped 3.4% after beating on earnings and guiding third quarter revenues below consensus. Elsewhere, Methode Electronics (MEI 9.38, +0.43) closed higher by 4.8% following an earnings beat and raised guidance, while CIENA (CIEN 13.46, -3.26) slumped 19.5% after posting an earnings miss and guiding lower.

Networking companies were under pressure after CIENA's cautious guidance. Management cited slower roll-outs, suggesting fewer funds are being used by corporations towards capital expenditures. The negative outlook spilled over to other networking companies as Juniper Networks (JNPR 17.75, -0.73), JDS Uniphase (JDSU 11.07, -0.68), and F5 Networks (FFIV 97.39, -4.70) lost between 4.0% and 6.0%. Meanwhile, Cisco Systems (CSCO 18.90, -0.30) outperformed, shedding 1.6%.

Energy stocks were one of the worst performers. With crude oil lower by 0.8%, the SPDR Energy Select Sector ETF (XLE 70.82, -0.76) fell 1.1% while most of the major names slipped in excess of 1.0%. Apache (APA 85.09, -1.44), Anadarko Petroleum (APC 68.26, -1.46), EOG Resources (EOG 105.89, -2.16), and Halliburton (HAL 32.81, -0.70) posted the widest losses and were all down roughly 2.0%.

The latest weekly initial jobless claims count totaled 374,000, which was higher than the expected 370,000. Today's tally matched the revised prior week count of 374,000. As for continuing claims, they fell to about 3.316 million from 3.321 million.

Separately, personal income increased by 0.3% in July, which was in-line with expectations. Personal spending rose by 0.4%, which was lower than the expected increase of 0.5%. Core personal consumption expenditures were unchanged month-over-month, against expectations of a 0.1% increase.

Tomorrow's economic data includes Chicago PMI at 9:45 ET, Michigan Sentiment at 9:55 ET, and factory orders at 10:00 ET.

Crude oil declined in today's pit trade as energy companies assessed Isaac's impact ahead of resuming production in the Gulf of Mexico. A stronger dollar also put pressure on the energy component. Crude fell off its session high of $95.49 per barrel and dipped as low as $93.95 per barrel in late morning action. It then spent the remainder of the session trading just above that level and settled with a 0.9% loss at $94.61 per barrel.

Natural gas trended higher for most of its floor session. It tanked to a session low of $2.64 per MMBtu following inventory data that showed a build of 66 bcf when a build of 65 bcf was anticipated. However, the move quickly corrected and natural gas popped right back into positive territory. It eventually settled 2.6% higher at $2.75 per MMBtu, just below its session high of $2.76 per MMBtu. Precious metals tumbled into negative territory in response to a rally in the dollar.

Gold touched a session high of $1666.70 per ounce moments after floor trade opened and fell as low as $1652.30 per ounce. The yellow metal slightly pushed-off the session low and settled with a 0.4% loss at $1657.00 per ounce after trading in a consolidative pattern in afternoon action. Silver climbed to a session high of $30.97 per ounce in early morning action but fell to a session low of $30.26 per ounce in afternoon pit trade. It inched slightly higher as it headed into the close but still settled with a 1.5% loss at $30.45 per ounce.

As a reminder, investors are awaiting tomorrow's highly-anticipated Jackson Hole speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke for any hints that would suggest further policy accommodations

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will comment on monetary policy in a highly anticipated address from Jackson Hole, WY at 10:00 ET.DJ30 -106.70 NASDAQ -32.48 SP500 -11.01 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 619/1.21 bln/1843 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 824/511.7 mln/2124