YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: Trade was muddled for most of the session, but weakness among financial stocks and other cyclical plays undercut the broader market for a sizable loss.

Stocks got off to a relatively weak start after news that Spain's central bank took control of regional savings outfit CajaSur served as a very real reminder of the financial uncertainty in Europe. The headline also stirred selling against the euro, which fell 1.6% to 1.2373 per dollar.

While the euro was weak for the entire day, Europe's major bourses were able to stage a rebound. Their upturn helped ease some of the early pressure against domestic stocks, but persistently listless trade limited the broader market's upward moves. As a consequence, the S&P 500 was unable to push past the session highs of this past Friday.

The mixed tape was eventually imbued by financial stocks, which fell to a 2.9% loss -- the worst of any major sector in the S&P 500. Diversified bank stocks (-4.0%) and regional bank stocks (-4.2%) were among the worst performing groups, but Janus Capital (JNS 10.51, -0.85) saw one of the sharpest slides after analysts at Goldman Sachs downgraded asset managers.

Energy stocks (-2.2%), materials stocks (-1.7%), and industrial stocks (-1.6%) also came under a stiff bout of selling pressure as market participants turned against cyclical stocks.

Large-cap tech stocks had displayed strength for most of the session, but the group succumbed to selling in the final stretch of trade. The Nasdaq 100 had been up as much as 1.0%, but it finished with a 0.4% loss as it closed at its session low along with the other major averages. Yahoo! (YHOO 15.54, +0.07) was able to hold on to a modest gain, though. Its strength followed news that it will form a strategic alliance with Nokia (NOK 10.02, -0.05).

The CRB Commodity index finished the session modestly higher today amongst mixed action in the equity indices.

Weakness in the euro led to a 1.8% gain in precious metals this session. Both gold and silver closed the session near their respective highs. June gold ended up 1.5% to $1194 per ounce, while July silver gained 1.9% to close at $18.00 per ounce.

It was an uneventful session for energy commodities, as they traded in a range-bound manner. July crude oil continued to find support around the $70 area, and closed modestly higher by 0.2% to $70.21 per barrel. June natural gas, which shed 0.5% to end at $4.012 per MMBtu, also traded near the unchanged mark throughout the session.

There weren't any other major news items of note and economic data was limited to April existing home sales, which spiked 7.6% month-over-month to an annualized rate of 5.77 million units. A rate of 5.62 million units had been expected.

The economic calendar for Tuesday features a consumer confidence reading from the Conference Board and housing price data from the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

Advancing Sectors: (None)
Declining Sectors: Financials (-2.9%), Energy (-2.2%), Materials (-1.7%), Industrials (-1.6%), Telecom (-1.0%), Utilities (-0.9%), Consumer Discretionary (-0.8%), Consumer Staples (-0.8%), Tech (-0.6%), Health Care (-0.2%) DJ30 -126.82 NASDAQ -15.49 NQ100 -0.4% R2K -1.2% SP400 -1.0% SP500 -14.04 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 935/2.08 bln/1756 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1187/1.31 bln/1912