3:00 pm : With only an hour left in today's trade stocks are trying to make a move up from their session lows. There aren't any signs of leadership driving the move, though.

Consistent with the trends of the past few months there is hardly any share volume behind today's action. In fact, far less than a half billion shares have exchanged hands on the NYSE today. DJ30 -64.52 NASDAQ -15.96 SP500 -8.43 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 755/1.56 bln/1755 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 755/435 mln/2215

2:30 pm : Stocks have descended to new session lows. The drop comes without any catalyst or headline, but follows what has been a futile struggle by stocks to fight their way through today's selling pressure.

All 10 major sectors are now in negative territory. Financials, off by nearly 2%, remain in the worst shape, but materials stocks aren't far behind. The slide by the materials sector has been led by metals plays like U.S. Steel (X 27.54, -1.62) and Freeport McMoRan (FCX 42.82, -1.84). DJ30 -82.25 NASDAQ -17.85 SP500 -10.15 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 830/1.45 bln/1665 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 845/390 mln/2100

2:00 pm : The stock market continues to chop along in negative territory. Weakness, although moderate, has been widespread since the open.

With stocks stuck in a funk, traditional safe havens like the dollar and Treasuries are attracting buying interest. The greenback's advance against a collection of competing currencies has the Dollar Index up 0.7%. Meanwhile, the move by Treasuries has the yield on the benchmark 10-year Note moving closer to 1.90%. DJ30 -44.32 NASDAQ -11.62 SP500 -6.08 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 805/1.35 bln/1685 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 815/365 mln/2105

1:30 pm : Stocks recently fell to fresh session lows, but have begun to bounce back. The effort has been gradual, however. As such, stocks continue to contend with modest losses.DJ30 -55.82 NASDAQ -15.93 SP500 -7.49 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 720/1.19 bln/1735 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 740/330 mln/2180

1:00 pm : The major market averages have spent the entire session wrestling with modest losses, but the dollar has staged an impressive advance.

News that analysts at Moody's downgraded the debt ratings of a handful of countries in the eurozone periphery and placed negative outlooks on the likes of France, Austria, and the United Kingdom dampened sentiment this morning, just a day after market participants applauded the approval of new austerity measures by Greece's parliament.

Early traders were also uninspired by January retail sales results, which showed a 0.4% increase in overall sales and a 0.7% increase in sales less autos. Overall sales had been expected to increase by 0.8% while sales less autos were expected to have increased by 0.5%. As an aside, import and export price data garnered little attention.

Word of improved economic sentiment in Germany and the decision that Japan's central bank opted to increase the size of its asset purchase program proved pleasing to market participants. The latter headline has taken the yen down sharply against the greenback. Selling against the euro has intensified in recent trade, leaving the currency at a new session low. The Dollar Index is now up 0.7% for the day.

Interest in the dollar, a traditional safe haven, has also been bolstered by the stock market's inability to fight through selling pressure.

Financials have been a heavy drag on trade all session. As a group they're currently down about 1.6%, which makes for the worst performance of any major sector.

Energy stocks had attempted to offer support in mid-morning trade, but the sector has since rolled over to trade in the red with the rest of the market. The sector's retreat comes as oil prices slide to a session low of $100.50 per barrel, which makes for a 0.5% loss. DJ30 -45.94 NASDAQ -16.64 SP500 -7.27 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 770/845 mln/1670 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 840/290 mln/2050

12:30 pm : Listless, lackluster action among equities has bolstered buying interest among Treasuries, such that the yield on the benchmark 10-year Note has fallen to 1.95%, which stands as its lowest level in one week.DJ30 -30.58 NASDAQ -13.53 SP500 -5.07 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 780/780 mln/1640 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 850/275 mln/2020

12:00 pm : Stocks have been unable to build on their recent rebound effort, leaving the major equity averages to remain in the red.

Although energy stocks had been displaying leadership, the sector's momentum has stalled. As a result, energy stocks are now up just 0.2% for the day. That said, names like Devon Energy (DVN 67.61, +1.97), Cabot Oil (COG 35.04, +1.00), and Newfield Exploration (NFX 39.40, +1.24) are still sporting gains roughly on the order of 3%. DJ30 -23.65 NASDAQ -10.47 SP500 -4.34 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 780/670 mln/1615 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 855/240 mln/1990

11:30 am : After setting session lows in recent trade stocks are on the rebound. The bounce has the broad market back where it began today's trade.

Energy stocks are showing leadership. The sector has managed to make a steady march higher so that it is now at its best level of the day and sporting a 0.3% gain, which is better than what any other sector has achieved.

The sector's efforts have been undermined by financials, which remain in weak shape. As a group financials are down 1.1%. DJ30 -21.27 NASDAQ -10.55 SP500 -3.75 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 685/570 mln/1680 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 735/205 mln/2100

11:00 am : A recent rebound attempt has been countered with renewed selling, forcing both the Nasdaq and S&P 500 to new morning lows. Meanwhile, the Dow is testing the depths that it set about 40 minutes ago.

While stocks are sliding, the greenback is garnering additional buying interest. The currency has climbed to a new morning high for a 0.6% gain against a basket of major foreign currencies. Most of its move has come against Japan's yen, which has fallen 1.1% so that it trades at 78.4 yen per dollar. The move follows news that Japan's central bank has expanded the size of its asset purchase program. Meanwhile, the euro is down just 0.2% against the greenback at $1.31. DJ30 -47.65 NASDAQ -17.30 SP500 -7.33 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 645/440 mln/1675 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 685/165 mln/2115

10:40 am : The dollar index is trading higher this morning, which has creating selling pressure to select commodities, mainly precious metals. In recent trade, the index is back near its session high.

In the energy space, Mar crude oil has been trading higher all morning and rallied just after floor trading open, which pushed crude oil to a new session high of $100.68. In more recent trade, crude extended gains and hit a new session high of $101.84/barrel and is currently up 0.6% at $101.52.

Feb natural gas has been showing strength as well this morning and is now up 4.3% at $2.54.

In metals, Apr gold and March silver were been in the red overnight and earlier this morning, but rallied a couple of hours ago and pushed back into positive territory. Gold is currently up +0.1% at $1726.00/oz and silver is now back in the red, currently down 0.2% $33.66/oz.DJ30 -32.21 NASDAQ -9.64 SP500 -4.74 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 653/419 mln/1668 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 702/161 mln/2089

10:00 am : Trade has become rather choppy. That has kept stocks stuck in negative territory with modest losses.

Business inventory data for December hasn't done anything to inspire market participants to increase their stakes. Inventories reportedly increased by 0.4%, which is slightly less than the 0.5% increase that had been broadly anticipated. DJ30 -29.85 NASDAQ -7.23 SP500 -4.12 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 660/115 mln/1440 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 745/65 mln/1880

09:45 am : The major equity averages are down with modest losses this morning. Although early pressure is broad, financials, which performed well in the prior session, are a source of pronounced weakness. Collectively, they are down 0.8%.

Health care stocks make up the strongest sector this morning, but they're only up 0.2% as a group. Hospira (HSP 36.58, +2.36) is an early leader among health care plays. DJ30 -21.19 NASDAQ -6.06 SP500 -3.01 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec NA/NA/NA NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec NA/NA/NA

09:15 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -4.50. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -5.00. Stock futures have eased lower so that a slightly lower start to trade today is expected. Moderate weakness comes after stocks scored strong gains yesterday in response to approved austerity measures in Greece, only to be reminded of the precarious conditions in the rest of the eurozone by several debt rating downgrades by analysts at Moody's.

Helping to temper disappointment over those headlines is news of improved economic sentiment in Germany, which is the eurozone's largest, most diverse economy. Additionally, Japan announced that it has expanded its asset purchase program.

However, domestic data hasn't been all that inspiring. It has thus far featured some unexciting import and export numbers, while monthly retail sales were mixed in that overall sales increased by half of what had been expected while sales less autos proved stronger than expected. Business inventory data are due at 10:00 AM ET.

09:05 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -5.20. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -6.50. Stock futures have eased lower so that they trail fair value by a narrow margin. Meanwhile, commodities are mixed this morning. That has allowed the CRB Index to drift down to a 0.2% loss. Among its more closely tracked constituents, crude oil prices are up 0.3% to $101.20 per barrel in the opening minutes of pit trade. However, natural gas prices have spiked to $2.47 per MMBtu for a 1.7% gain. Precious metals are grappling with selling pressure that has left gold to trade with a 0.4% loss at $1718 per ounce and silver down to $33.46 per ounce for a 0.8% loss.

08:35 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -3.00. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -3.50. The latest round of data has done nothing to inspire action ahead of the open. Retail sales increased by 0.4% during January. That's only half of the 0.8% increase that had been expected, on average, among economists polled by Briefing.com. Although the increase in sales failed to match what had been broadly predicted, it did mark an improvement from the flat sales rate posted for the prior month.

Excluding autos, retail sales actually climbed by 0.7%, which is greater than the 0.5% increase that had been widely anticipated. The surprisingly strong increase comes after prior month sales were revised downward to reflect a 0.5% decline, though.

Separately, export prices that exclude agricultural items were flat in January after they declined by 0.2% in the prior month. Meanwhile, import prices that exclude oil increased by 0.1% in January, just as they had in the prior month.

08:05 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -1.30. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: flat. Stock futures are essentially flat this morning. Analysts at Moody's reminded market participants of the precarious conditions in the eurozone by downgrading debt ratings of a handful of countries in the region's periphery. Outlooks for core areas like France and Austria were made negative, as was that of the United Kingdom.

In the face of those actions Germany reported a strong improvement in sentiment. Meanwhile, Japan's central bank increased the size of its asset purchase program.

After going yesterday without a single dose of domestic data, monthly retail sales numbers and monthly import and export price data are due at the bottom of the hour. Monthly business inventory numbers will be released at 10:00 AM ET.

The number of earnings announcements has picked up since yesterday morning. The latest round includes an upside surprises from Marsh McLennan (MMC 32.32, +0.07) and Omnicom Group (OMC 47.94, -0.09), but a miss from Goodyear Tire (GT 13.55, -0.42). Note: ticker quotes reflect premarket prices.

06:33 am : [BRIEFING.COM] S&P futures vs fair value: +1.00. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +4.50.

06:33 am : Nikkei...9052.07...+52.90...+0.60%. Hang Seng...20917.83...+30.40...+0.20%.

06:33 am : FTSE...5912.18...+6.50...+0.10%. DAX...6765.86...+27.40...+0.40%.

---

Take a FREE TRIAL of Briefing.com's complete Live market analysis of the U.S. stock and bond markets, technology stocks, economic releases, earnings reports, and day trading highlights