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From Briefing.com: 4:10 pm : The major averages finished the Monday session on a modestly higher note, but they ended below their best levels of the day after volatility during the last two hours of action forced the indices to test their flat lines. The S&P 500 rose 0.8%, while the Nasdaq added 0.6% after being up as much as 1.3%.

The stock market began the session on an upbeat note, casting aside renewed concerns about the situation in Ukraine, where the country's army was called in over the weekend to deal with pro-Russian separatists in several cities in the Southeast.

Instead, the market rallied in the morning after Citigroup's (C 47.67, +1.99) above-consensus quarterly results, combined with a better-than-expected March Retail Sales report, invited buyers into the mix. In all likelihood, the early advance was assisted by some short-covering as many areas that displayed weakness in recent sessions, showed relative strength this morning.

Biotechnology was among the early leaders and the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 215.37, -0.08) made a run at its 200-day moving average. The ETF made a brief appearance above that noteworthy level before spending the afternoon in a steady retreat that placed the group back in the red. The health care sector, meanwhile, added 0.5%.

Other momentum names traded in similar fashion to biotech with the likes of Google (GOOG 532.52, +1.92), Facebook (FB 58.89, +0.36), LinkedIn (LNKD 165.78, 0.00), and Yelp (YELP 61.94, +0.22) showing early strength before retreating from their highs during afternoon action. The technology sector (+1.1%), meanwhile, held up relatively well, but it too ended below its session high.

Elsewhere among cyclical groups, energy (+1.3%) outperformed throughout the session with support from Dow components Chevron (CVX 118.70, +1.67) and ExxonMobil (XOM 97.86, +1.14), both of which posted gains close to 1.3% apiece. The sector ended in the lead while crude oil rose 0.4% to $104.05/bbl.

The other commodity-related sector, materials, ended in line with the broader market. Miners and steelmakers displayed strength, with Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX 24.52, +0.30) and Market Vectors Steel ETF (SLX 47.41, +0.56) both gaining 1.2%. For its part, gold futures advanced 0.7% to $1327.70/ozt.

Treasuries posted slim losses, sending the benchmark 10-yr yield higher by one basis point to 2.64%.

Participation was below average as less than 680 million shares changed hands at the New York Stock Exchange.

Reviewing today's data:

Retail sales increased 1.1% in March after increasing an upwardly revised 0.7% (from 0.3%) in February. The Briefing.com consensus expected retail sales to increase 1.0%. As expected from the motor vehicle sales data, auto sales contributed significantly to overall sales growth. Sales at motor vehicle and parts dealers increased 3.1% in March after increasing 2.5% in February. Excluding autos, retail sales still increased a solid 0.7% in March, up from a 0.3% gain in February. The consensus expected these sales to increase 0.5%. Sales were strong all around, but there wasn't much to suggest that the acceleration in spending was the result of pent-up demand from delayed winter spending. The March employment report showed a 0.7% increase in aggregate wages, which exactly matched spending after stripping out autos.
Business inventories increased 0.4% for a second consecutive month in February. The Briefing.com consensus expected inventories to increase 0.6%. Total inventories consist of manufacturers, merchant wholesalers, and retailers. Both manufacturers (0.7%) and wholesalers (0.5%) inventories were announced prior to the release. Only retailer inventories, which were flat in February after increasing 0.3% in January, were unknown.

Tomorrow, March CPI (Briefing.com consensus 0.1%) and the Empire Manufacturing Survey (consensus 7.5) for April will be released at 8:30 ET, while the February Net Long-Term TIC Flows report will cross the wires at 9:00 ET. The day's data will be topped off with the NAHB Housing Market Index (consensus 50) for April, which will be released at 10:00 ET.

S&P 500 -1.0% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average -2.4% YTD
Nasdaq Composite -3.7% YTD
Russell 2000 -4.0% YTD

DJ30 +146.49 NASDAQ +22.96 SP500 +14.92 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1509/1.77 bln/1291 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2012/675.9 mln/1025

3:30 pm :

Precious metals traded higher today despite a stronger dollar index. The move came on continued tension in Ukraine, specifically news over the weekend that the country's army exchanged gunfire with pro-Russian separatists in several cities.
June gold brushed a session low of $1318.70 per ounce moments after floor trade opened and climbed as high as $1331.40 per ounce by late morning action. It eventually settled with a 0.4% gain at $1327.70 per ounce.
May silver lifted off its session low of $19.72 per ounce set in early morning action and broke into positive territory. It touched a session high of $20.08 per ounce and settled with a 0.4% gain at $20.01 per ounce.
May crude oil rose above $104.00 per barrel on the Ukrainian conflict. The energy component came off its session low of $103.34 per barrel and recovered into positive territory in morning pit trade. It brushed a session high of $104.19 per barrel and settled at $104.05 per barrel, or 0.4% higher.
May natural gas, on the other hand, traded in negative territory in a tight range between $4.54 and $4.58 per MMBtu. Unable to find buyer support, it settled with a 1.3% loss at $4.56 per MMBtu.

2:49PM Floor Talk (TALKX) : Early stock market strength is fading in the afternoon session as selling interest has picked up in all sectors. The Nasdaq Composite, which was up as much as 1.3% at its high today, is now up just 0.3%. Notably, the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 214.09, -1.36)has turned negative after being up 2.0% earlier in the day while many of the large momentum stocks have given back a good portion of their earlier gains.

Geopolitical concerns are an ostensible catalyst for the retreat. The Treasury market, however, isn't yet benefiting strongly from a flight-to-safety trade, making it more likely that the inability to hold stronger gains from earlier has weighed on sentiment and has forced some selling activity. The 10-yr note is down four ticks with its yield at 2.64%.

Separately, the yen has been clawing its way back from larger losses against the dollar. That resilience might be acting as a headwind with respect to carry-trade concerns.

A peculiar mismatch today is that the broader market was reportedly uplifted by the better than expected earnings report from Citigroup (C 47.36, +1.68) and the better than expected Retail Sales report for March, yet two groups that should have been leaders on that view -- the financials (+0.4%) and the transports (+0.4%) -- have trailed the action throughout the session.

The energy sector (+1.2%) is doing its part to lend support to the broader market, but it is the only sector up more than 1.0% at this point.

12:20PM Notable movers of interest (SCANX) : The following are some of today's most notable movers of interest, categorized by market capitalization (large cap over $10 billion and mid cap between $2-10 billion) and ranked by % change (all stocks over 100K average daily volume).

Large Cap Gainers

BSX (13.23 +4.26%): Upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BofA/Merrill
C (47.6 +4.21%): Beat quarterly EPS by $0.15 ($1.30 vs $1.15 estimate), revs fell 0.6% yoy to $20.12 bln vs $19.46 bln estimate; upgraded to Hold from Sell at Rafferty
STX (55.09 +3.18%): Upgraded to Buy from Hold at Argus

Large Cap Losers

NBG (4.66 -10.90%): Reuters and Bloomberg reporting that co is planning a EUR 2.1 bln capital raise
AR (60.73 -3.94%): Reported Q1 avg net daily gas equivalent production is estimated to be 783 to 787 MMcfe/d, a 105% increase over the prior year quarter and 16% sequentially; avg net daily liquids production is estimated to be 16,000 to 16,500 Bbl/d, a 580% increase over the prior year quarter and 45% sequentially; avg realized natural gas price before hedging is estimated to be $5.02 to $5.06 per Mcf, an approximate $0.08 to $0.12 premium to NYMEX after Btu upgrade
ERIC (12.8 -2.51%): Announced that Douglas Gilstrap will resign from his role as Senior Vice President and Head of Group Function Strategy and leave Ericsson's Executive Leadership Team

Mid Cap Gainers

EW (82.48 +13.03%): Federal court granted a preliminary injunction limiting the sale of Medtronic's (MDT) CoreValve system in the United States; Upgraded to Buy from Fair Value at CRT Capital, target raised to $87 from $79; upgraded to Neutral from Underweight at JP Morgan
AHL (43.7 +11.00%): Board of Directors rejected unsolicited proposal from Endurance (ENH) to acquire the company at $47.50/share, believes proposal undervalues the co and is a strategic mismatch
HLF (55.57 +7.94%): Rebound following sharp declines seen prior to close last Friday on reports that co is under investigation by the FBI

Mid Cap Losers

CZR (18.21 -2.78%): Co's Caesars Growth Properties Holdings unit sees Q1 (Mar) revs of $280-305.5 mln; mentioned cautiously at Barron's
STM (8.55 -2.51%): Downgraded to Sell from Neutral at UBS
ENH (52.98 -1.56%): Trading lower following rejection of offer to acquire Aspen Insurance for ~$47.50 per share

12:06PM Stocks/ETFs that traded to new 52 week highs/lows this session - New highs (68) outpacing new lows (54) (SCANX) : Stocks that traded to 52 week highs: AAV, AEY, AFH, AGRO, AHL, ATHL, ATI, ATO, AXAS, BAM, BAS, BPL, BTI, BXE, CHC, CHDX, CLR, CPE, CRK, CWEI, CXDC, CXO, DEJ, DMLP, DYN, ECA, ECOL, EGY, EPD, EQM, ERF, FANG, FNHC, FTK, GLOG, GPOR, GSJK, HIL, KED, KEP, KND, KNX, LAKE, MCS, MMP, MPLX, NFX, NGL, OFED, PES, PIH, PNM, PRSC, PSXP, SBGL, SGY, SMMF, SPRO, ST, STS, SWC, TOT, TPC, TRGP, UL, USAK, VCO, VOCS

Stocks that traded to 52 week lows: ARQL, ATOS, AVNW, BNFT, CCCL, CLTX, CNCE, CRIS, CTC, CTHR, CWTR, DRNA, DSCI, EGAN, ELNK, EXEL, FMD, GEVO, GIMO, GMAN, GNI, HMSY, INFI, KANG, KBR, KING, LEI, LIWA, LMNS, LMOS, NEWL, ORBT, QURE, RDC, RJET, RNG, SBY, SDRL, SMLR, SMTX, SPPI, STAY, STRL, TECUA, TEU, TRVN, VEEV, VJET, VRNS, VTUS, WMC, WPCS, WPRT, XONE

ETFs that traded to 52 week highs: DJP, EWH, PALL, USC

ETFs that traded to 52 week lows: none


10:08AM UTStarcom announces sales milestone; co has sold over $250 mln of packet optical transport products that form the backbone of telecommunications network infrastructure (UTSI) 2.81 -0.02 :

Wind River, a subsidiary of Intel (INTC), announced that Toshiba (TOSBF) is using Wind River Simics to develop automotive application software on image recognition system-on-chip platforms.

9:26AM Advanced Energy acquires HiTek Power, a privately-held provider of high voltage power solutions; co expects acquisition to be accretive within the next year (AEIS) 22.80 : Co announced it has acquired HiTek Power Group, a privately-held provider of high voltage power solutions. Based in the UK, the co offers a comprehensive portfolio of high voltage and custom built power conversion products ranging from 100V to 500kV designed to meet the demanding requirements of OEMs worldwide. "We expect this acquisition to be accretive within the next year and accelerate Advanced Energy's revenue and profitability over time."

8:25AM Gapping down (SCANX) : Solar names lower following disappointing TSL guidance: TSL-2.9% (lowers Q1 shipment guidance; estimates its solar module shipments to be in the range of 540 MW to 570 MW, including 20 MW to 30 MW for its downstream projects), JKS -2.6%, CSIQ -4.4%, CSUN -2.8%

Analyst comments: STM -2.5% (downgraded to Sell from Neutral at UBS), GLW -0.9% ( downgraded to Hold from Buy at Stifel).

8:03AM JA Solar issues preliminary Q1 results that exceed previously issued guidance; expects total shipment volume in the first quarter of 2014 to exceed 620 MW (JASO) 9.32 : Based on preliminary financial information:

JA Solar currently expects total shipment volume in the first quarter of 2014 to exceed 620 MW, ahead of its previously announced guidance of 580 MW to 610 MW.
The Company also expects sequential gross margin improvement in the first quarter of 2014.
Furthermore, the Company reiterates its full year cell and module shipments guidance of between 2.7 GW and 2.9 GW, which includes 200 MW of module shipments to the Company's downstream projects.
"We are proud that solid execution in the quarter enabled us to exceed our previously issued guidance," said Baofang Jin, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of JA Solar.

Xilinx (XLNX) and Agilent Technologies (A) announced Xilinx's DDR4 memory solution for UltraScale devices has completed the Agilent N6462A compliance test running at 2400 Mb/s.

Trina Solar (TSL) updated its guidance for the first quarter of 2014 based on preliminary financial data. For the first quarter, the co currently estimates its solar module shipments to be in the range of 540 MW to 570 MW, including 20 MW to 30 MW for its downstream projects, as compared to the previous guidance of 670 MW to 700 MW, including 20 MW to 30 MW for its downstream projects. This is primarily due to a temporary decrease in shipments to the EU pending agreement on a new minimum import price pursuant to the adjustment mechanism in the price undertaking. The co expects shipments to European markets to increase with the finalization of the terms. Additionally, for the first quarter of 2014, the co currently estimates that the overall gross margin will be between 18% to 20%, compared to the co's previous guidance of mid-teens in percentage terms. The increase in gross margin is due to improved ASP of modules and a gross margin in the high-teens from the sale of the co's 50 MW Wuwei project. The co reiterates its full year 2014 module shipment guidance of 3.6 GW to 3.8 GW, of which 400 MW to 500 MW of PV modules are expected to be shipped to downstream projects. The Company expects to complete construction of between 400 MW and 500 MW in downstream PV projects during 2014.