Yahoo [briefing.com]: A broad-based selling effort weighed on stocks for the entire session and sent buyers recoiling as more than 90% of the companies in the S&P 500 finished lower, which resulted in the S&P 500's third consecutive loss.

A negative bias loomed in premarket trading as sellers prepared to continue their efforts amid weakness among major foreign indices. Their cause was strengthened by an unexpected decline in advance retail sales data for April, which was released ahead of the opening bell and supported the notion that consumers aren't completely ready to lead an economic turnaround.

According to the data, April total retail sales decreased 0.4%, and sales less autos decreased 0.5%. The April figures failed to meet the consensus forecast, which called for total sales to be flat and sales excluding autos to increase 0.2%. However, the decline wasn't as sharp as what was seen in March, when total sales slid 1.3%, and sales less autos declined 1.2%.

Shares of retailers slid 3.3%. Retail giant Wal-Mart (WMT 50.03, -0.59) also finished with a loss, but outperformed the broader market on a relative basis. The company is scheduled to announce its latest quarterly results tomorrow morning, ahead of the opening bell.

Financials dropped 5.2%, more than any other major sector, and extended their week-to-date decline to more than 13%. While financials logged the worst loss of any sector this session, sellers weren't entirely focused on financial stocks. Cyclical plays also saw outsized losses as materials stocks (-4.5%) and industrials stocks (-4.0%) sank. Small-cap and mid-cap stocks were also strongly out of favor as the Russell 2000 Small-Cap Index sank -4.7% and the S&P 400 Mid-Cap Index made a 4.4% drop.

Large-cap tech had showed relative weakness in the early going, but managed to firm up a bit. Intel (INTC 15.13, -0.08) was a relative leader among its peers after stating that the second quarter is going better than the company had expected. That overshadowed news that Intel has been hit by the European Commission with a $1.45 billion fine for breaking antitrust laws. The fine represents nearly 14% of Intel's cash and short-term investments.

IBM (IBM 102.26, -1.68) attempted to drum up support by stating that earnings for fiscal 2009 will be least $9.20 per share, which is above the current consensus estimate of $9.11 per share.

Energy stocks finished 3.0% lower amid the broader market's downward bias and a downturn in crude oil prices. Crude oil contracts finished 1.4% lower at $58.02 per barrel after surrendering solid gains that were bolstered by bullish inventory data midmorning. Enthusiasm was partly capped by a lowered demand forecast from OPEC.

All 10 major sectors finished the session lower amid relatively high trading volume (approx. 1.8 billion shares on NYSE). Even health care, which had spent most of the session as the only sector in positive territory, buckled in late trading. Health care closed 0.1% lower, though pharmaceuticals were able to finish 0.7% higher.

The latest business inventory data had no real impact on this session's trading. Nonetheless, March data showed a 1.0% decrease in inventories, which was largely in-line with expectations. Tomorrow's economic data carries a bit more weight and will be in closer focus; both the April Producer Price Index and weekly initial jobless claims data are due at 8:30 AM ET Thursday morning.DJ30 -184.22 NASDAQ -51.73 NQ100 -2.7% R2K -4.7% SP400 -4.4% SP500 -24.43 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 395/2.15 bln/2294 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 337/1.77 bln/2745