The stock market recenly made an upward push, but it was rebuffed at the neutral line. That encouraged sellers to redouble their efforts so that stocks dropped to fresh session lows.
The broader market's retreat has dragged down retailers to a 0.4% gain after they had been up more than 1% in the early going. Sears Holding (SHLD 82.72, -4.53) has been hit particularly hard; its shares are down more than 5%, even though the company posted an upsided earnings surprise and stronger-than-expected revenue for the latest quarter.