YAHOO [BRIEFING.COM]: A lack of news flow left stocks to spend the session shadowing the euro, which remains under the control of sellers. In turn, the major equity averages booked another round of broad-based losses.

The euro retreated overnight to a fresh four-year low of roughly $1.188, but it managed to fully recover from that loss by the time the stock market opened for trade. The euro's upward swing helped give the major indices a higher start, but stocks soon lost their direction as the euro fell under renewed selling pressure. The euro was quoted 0.4% lower at $1.192 at the close of trade.

The Dow and S&P 500 spent most of the session oscillating between positive and negative territory amid listless trade. Such a lack of direction and an absence of leadership eventually gave way to a steady, broad-based slide that saw the S&P 500 settle at session lows around the 1050 level, which has been identified as a key level by many traders.

Losses were sharp, especially among industrials plays, which fell 2.6% as all 57 names in the sector settled in the red.

Tech stocks tumbled 1.9% loss. Their weakness weighed heavily on the Nasdaq and caused it to underperform the other headline indices for the entire session.

Utilities made up the only major sector to finish with a gain. They advanced 0.5%.

Other defensive-oriented stocks also attracted support; health care finished with a fractional loss and telecom closed with a tepid 0.1% loss.

Gold and silver stocks garnered considerable support as precious metals prices were spurred higher by a flight to safety. Specifically, Newmont Mining (NEM 55.16, +1.44), Yamana Gold (AUY 10.81, +0.31), and Barrick Gold (ABX 43.12, +1.70) were among the best performers as gold gained 2% to close pit trade at $1240.80 per ounce and silver settled 5% higher at $18.16 per ounce.

Bristol-Myers (BMY 23.86, +1.42) and Celgene (CELG 53.82, +2.27) were the best overall performers by percent gained this session. Their advances in the face of broader market weakness were underpinned by positive drug study results.

Economic data was limited to a monthly consumer credit report. It showed that consumer credit increased by $1.0 billion in April. That made for a sharp upturn from the downwardly revised $5.4 billion decline in consumer credit for the prior month. However, the report was generally a non-factor for trade.

A surge in precious metals (+3.5%) helped the CRB commodity index finish in positive territory today, despite four other sectors ending the session in the red. July silver closed higher by 5% to $18.162 per ounce, while August gold ended up 2% to $1240.80 per ounce. A rally in gold priced in Euros, supported by a flight to safety, helped push precious metals futures higher today. On the contrary, industrial metals, including nickel, aluminum and copper, all finished the session well lower.

It was a quiet session for the energy complex (+0.6%), as July crude oil closed lower by -0.1% to $71.44 per barrel. July natural gas finished higher by 2% to $4.896 MMBtu.

Advancing Sectors: Utilities (+0.5%)
Declining Sectors: Industrials (-2.6%), Financials (-2.0%), Tech (-1.9%), Consumer Discretionary (-1.8%), Materials (-1.7%), Energy (-0.8%), Consumer Staples (-0.7%), Telecom (-0.1%)
Unchanged: Health Care DJ30 -115.48 NASDAQ -45.27 NQ100 -1.9% R2K -2.4% SP400 -2.0% SP500 -14.41 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 453/2.21 bln/2235 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 815/1.42 bln/2221