YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: Late selling led stocks to finish lower for the third straight session. Though losses in that time have been relatively modest, the streak is the longest in about a month.

Stocks started the session in the red as a negative tone followed disappointing European data, namely lower-than-expected PMI readings out of Germany and the broader eurozone, a contraction in Ireland's GDP. The mood was further undermined by news that initial jobless claims for the week ended September 18 totaled 465,000, which is more than the 450,000 that had been widely expected.

Support helped stocks rebound from their opening slide. The move gained support following news that existing home sales for August climbed 7.6% month-over-month to an annualized rate of 4.13 million units, which is more than 4.10 million units that had been expected.

Leading indicators for August also proved better than expected. They increased 0.3% in the face of calls for a tepid 0.1% increase.

Tech stocks outperformed after they had lagged in the prior session. That helped the Nasdaq trade with a wide lead over the broader market. Tech stocks, as a group, were up 1.0% at their session high, but the sector failed to sustain the move as sellers took control of the final leg of trade. The overall tech sector settled at the flat line.

Retailers also fell sharply, but they managed to settle with a 0.2% gain. Amazon.com (AMZN 152.85, +1.02) actually registered a new all-time high before it pulled back. Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY 43.40, +1.35) sustained most of its gain, which was underpinned by better-than-expected earnings and a strong outlook.

Financials undermined broader market for almost the entire session. The sector slid to a 2.0% loss. The drop actually marked the sector's fifth decline in six sessions. The cumulative loss during that time stands at 3.5%.

Without the support of financials the broader market has had a hard time extending the four-month high that it set on Monday. A failure to find support has left the stock market to log losses for three straight sessions.

Treasuries had a flat finish after failing to sustain strong gains in the early going. Early support took the yield on the benchmark 10-year Note to a three-week low of less than 2.50%, but it ended the day at about 2.55%.

Commodities were weak in early trade, but they rebounded in afternoon trade, such that the CRB Commodity Index made out with a 0.5% gain. Precious metals remained the lead story in the space since the continuous silver contract hit a near 30 year high of $21.20 per ounce and the continuous gold contract flirted with its all-time high of $1296.20 per ounce. Pit trade ended with December silver futures up 0.5% to $21.21 per ounce and December gold prices up 0.2% to $1296.30 per ounce.

It was another record day for precious metals, after the continuous silver contract traded to a ~30 year high at $21.20 The continuous gold contract came close to putting in a fresh all-time high, but was about 30 cents short. Dec silver futures finished higher by 0.5% to $21.21 per ounce, while Dec gold ended up 0.2% to $1296.30 per ounce.

Oct natural gas finished higher by 1.5% to $4.017 per MMBtu. This morning's inventory, which showed a modestly smaller-than-expected build, had little impact on trade today. Nov crude oil settled up 0.3% to $75.18 per barrel.

Advancing Sectors: (None)
Declining Sectors: Financials (-2.0%), Industrials (-1.5%), Materials (-1.0%), Utilities (-1.0%), Energy (-0.8%), Consumer Staples (-0.7%), Health Care (-0.5%), Consumer Discretionary (-0.5%), Telecom (-0.5%)
Unchanged: TechDJ30 -76.89 NASDAQ -7.47 SP500 -9.45 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 876/1.95 bln/1722 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 899/948 mln/2103