YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM] : Stocks climbed from a loss of nearly 2% to a gain of roughly 0.6% before slipping back into the red to finish the session 1% lower. The relatively modest loss follow's the prior session's 5% surge, suggesting many investors may becoming more willing to ride their gains.

Trading came without concerted leadership. 

Technology, which accounts for the largest weighting in the S&P 500 at roughly 15%, finished 1.7% lower. Its weakness stemmed from large-cap tech names, such as Apple (AAPL 89.16, -6.27). Apple sagged following reports that the company must end its exclusive deal with a French network operator, and that its CEO will discontinue attending a popular conference.

Financials (-1.3%) were up 1.7% at their session high, but were unable to lock in gains. Morgan Stanley (MS 16.63, +0.50) posted a larger-than-expected loss for the latest quarter, but traded with strength alongside Goldman Sachs (GS 78.78, +2.78) as investors being to look past the firms' massive losses.

Citigroup (C 7.83, -0.40) was a laggard in the financial sector, though. It displayed weakness after an article from The Wall Street Journal indicated regulators are increasing their oversight of Citi due to increased concern regarding the firm's financial status.

2008 has been a dry year for deal making, but Constellation Energy (CEG 23.00, -5.74) and Electricite de France announced a definitive agreement in which EDF will pay $4.5 billion for almost half of Constellation's nuclear operations. The agreement comes despite MidAmerican Energy's offer to pay $4.7 billion for all of Constellation, and makes it unlikely a new suitor or sweetened offer will surface. Shares of CEG plummeted 20% this session.

Government debt, which is considered a defensive investment, closed higher. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Note remains at historic lows. The 10-year Note is currently yielding 2.16% after advancing 27 ticks. It was up 50 ticks in the early going.

Gold, another safe haven, climbed more than $26 to hit $868.00 per ounce. Meanwhile, March silver added $0.72 to close trading at $11.425 per ounce.

Other commodities traded in mixed fashion. March corn slipped, but wheat advanced. January soybeans were also up.

Oil prices fell as much as 8.5% before settling $3.36 lower at $40.23 per barrel. The intraday drop took oil prices to a new record low of $39.88 per barrel. Oil's slide comes after the Department of Energy reported a build of 525,000 barrels for the week ending Dec. 12, though a build of 600,000 barrels was expected, and OPEC stated it is now targeting daily production of 24.85 million barrels, which is down 2.46 million barrels from the current production target level and down 4.2 million barrels from actual September production. The cut from current production targets is essentially in-line with the cut of 2 million barrels per day that was widely expected.

Oil's drop came even though the U.S. dollar extended its recent downturn. The dollar fell 2.2%, limiting its year-to-date advance to just 2.9%.

Converse to the weakened dollar are stronger foreign currencies, which make the prices of imports more expensive. That played into Honda Motor's (HMC 21.22, -1.63) to reduce its profit forecast and cut its dividend in half.

Still, Asian markets concluded their latest session with gains. The MSCI Asia-Pacific Index advanced 2.7% to hit a five-week high. Japan's Nikkei finished 0.5% higher, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng climbed 2.2%.

In European markets, London's FTSE locked in a 0.4% advance, reversing early gains. However, Germany's DAX ended 0.5% lower and France's CAC closed with a 0.3% loss.DJ30 -99.80 NASDAQ -10.58 NQ100 -1.4% R2K +0.8% SP400 +1.0% SP500 -8.76 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1439/2.15 bln/1335 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1821/1.34 bln/1273