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From Briefing.com: 4:20 pm : The stock market began the new week on a mixed note despite showing early strength. Weakness among small-cap names resulted in the underperformance of the Russell 2000 (-0.6%) and the Nasdaq Composite (-0.03%), while the S&P 500 settled higher by 0.3%.

Equity indices climbed out of the gate, emboldened by M&A activity in the heavily-weighted health care sector (+0.6%). The third-largest group served as an early leader with help from Pfizer (PFE 32.04, +1.29), which jumped 4.2% after confirming its interest in AstraZeneca (AZN 77.01, +8.35). Also of note, Forest Laboratories (FRX 89.50, -0.34) agreed to acquire Furiex Pharmaceuticals (FURX 103.05, +22.90) for $1.1 billion.

Even though the health care sector rallied at the open, the broader market was unable to build on the strength as weakness in momentum names-including biotechnology-outweighed the early optimism. The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 223.06, -0.90) spent the entire session between its 20- and 200-day moving averages before settling just above the 200-day average.

Elsewhere, other momentum names that have been volatile throughout April, remained unable to stage a rebound, which suggests the retreat in early April may not have fully run its course. For example, Amazon.com (AMZN 296.58, -7.25), Facebook (FB 56.14, -1.57), LinkedIn (LNKD 148.06, -10.11), and Yelp (YELP 55.55, -2.08) all lost between 2.4% and 6.4%. Interestingly, the losses in high-beta tech names did not scare investors away from large caps. Apple (AAPL 594.09, +22.15), IBM (IBM 193.14, +3.51), and Microsoft (MSFT 40.87, +0.96) advanced between 1.9% and 3.9%.

The relative strength of large cap issues was on display within the Dow Jones Industrial Average (+0.5%), which outperformed throughout the session as 22 of 30 components posted gains.

However, not all large caps displayed comparable strength as the financial sector (-0.6%) lagged throughout the session. Bank of America (BAC 14.95, -1.00) fell 6.3% after announcing an adjustment to its estimated regulatory capital ratios, which will require the bank to submit a new capital plan to the Fed. The stock ended near its session low, while the financial sector was able to reclaim the bulk of its losses during the afternoon as equity indices rallied off their lows.

Treasuries spent the entire session in the red, ending near their lows. The 10-yr note lost ten ticks, pushing its yield up to 2.70%.

Participation was above average as 804 million shares changed hands at the NYSE floor.

Economic data was limited to the Pending Home Sales report for March, which increased 3.4% while the Briefing.com consensus expected an increase of 1.0%. Today's reading followed last month's revised decrease of 0.5% (from -0.8%).

Tomorrow, the Case-Shiller 20-city Index (Briefing.com consensus +13.0%) will be released at 9:00 ET, while the Consumer Confidence survey for April (consensus 83.6) will be reported at 10:00 ET.

S&P 500 +1.1% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average -0.8% YTD
Nasdaq Composite -2.5% YTD
Russell 2000 -3.8% YTD

DJ30 +87.28 NASDAQ -1.16 SP500 +6.03 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1003/2.15 bln/1726 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1599/803.9 mln/1459

3:30 pm :

June gold pulled back into negative territory from its session high of $1303.90 per ounce set in early morning pit trade. It touched a session low of $1292.10 per ounce after economic data showed that Pending Home Sales in March increased 3.4% while the Briefing.com consensus expected an increase of 1.0%. The yellow metal managed to inch slightly higher as the session progressed and cut losses to 0.1% as it closed at $1299.00 per ounce.
May silver retreated into the red after touching a session high of $19.72 per ounce in morning action. It traded as low as $19.47 per ounce and settled at $19.59 per ounce, or 0.5% lower.
June crude pulled back from its session high of $101.36 per barrel set at pit trade open and chopped around the unchanged level for most of the session. It brushed a session low of $100.23 per barrel and eventually settled with a 0.3% gain at $100.85 per barrel.
June natural gas climbed as high as $4.81 per MMBtu after lifting from a session low of $4.74 per MMBtu in morning floor action. It settled at $4.79 per MMBtu, or 2.8% higher.

4:44PM STMicroelectronics beats by $0.03, misses on revs; guides Q2 rev midpoint below consensus (STM) 9.21 +0.10 : Reports Q1 (Mar) adj. loss of $0.01 per share, $0.03 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of ($0.04); revenues fell 9.2% year/year to $1.83 bln vs the $1.85 bln consensus.

ST`s first quarter revenues, excluding legacy ST-Ericsson products, grew 0.7% on a year-over-year basis and decreased 6.4% sequentially. First quarter total revenues, including legacy ST-Ericsson products, decreased year-over-year and sequentially by 9.2% and 9.4%, respectively.Microcontroller, Memory, and Secure MCU (MMS) and Automotive (APG) led the product lines with year-over-year revenue growth of 15.6% and 15.5%, respectively.

Co issues downside guidance for Q2, sees Q2 revs -1.5% to +5.5% QoQ to ~$1.80-1.93 bln vs. $1.93 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate. As a result, gross margin in the second quarter is expected to be about 33.6%, plus or minus 2.0 percentage points.
As anticipated, ST-Ericsson`s legacy products are winding down and revenues are expected to be less than half of the $63 million recorded in the first quarter."We are encouraged by the signs of improvement in the macro-economic environment generally and by specific product dynamics expected in the next several quarters. In the second quarter, we see opportunities to continue to expand our customer base, driven by strength in microcontrollers, automotive and industrial, and power applications and by the initial recovery of the Embedded Processing Solutions segment.

4:33PM Ultra Clean Holdings misses by $0.02, beats on revs; guides Q2 EPS below consensus, revs in-line (UCTT) 11.81 +0.23 : Reports Q1 (Mar) earnings of $0.27 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.02 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.29; revenues rose 43.5% year/year to $144.2 mln vs the $137.43 mln consensus.

Co issues mixed guidance for Q2, sees EPS of $0.18-0.21 vs. $0.27 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q2 revs of $128-133 mln vs. $132.36 mln Capital IQ Consensus
"Results for the last quarter were mixed for UCT. We had our best revenue results ever and we exceeded our revenue guidance for the quarter. However, our gross margins for the quarter were lower than expected when we compare this quarter to what we achieved in the previous quarter. As I have mentioned previously, one of our goals has been to achieve gross margins in the 15-18% range, and I am pleased that we continue to operate within this range."

4:09PM Amkor beats by $0.07, beats on revs; guides Q2 EPS in-line, revs above consensus (AMKR) 7.07 -0.09 : Reports Q1 (Mar) earnings of $0.09 per share, $0.07 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.02; revenues rose 1.2% year/year to $696 mln vs the $678.47 mln consensus. Co issues mixed guidance for Q2, sees EPS of $0.08-0.18, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.12 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q2 revs of $735-785 mln vs. $732.85 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

4:09PM Luminex beats by $0.14, beats on revs; reaffirms FY14 revs guidance (LMNX) : Reports Q1 (Mar) earnings of $0.24 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.14 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.10; revenues rose 6.4% year/year to $56.6 mln vs the $55.45 mln consensus.

Co reaffirms guidance for FY14, sees FY14 revs of $225-240 mln vs. $230.14 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

"We are pleased with the overall financial performance in the first quarter of 2014, which benefited from a concentration of our higher margin items, consumables, royalties and assays. In addition, by managing spending levels across our operating expense classes, we were able to deliver excellent operating leverage and improved performance at the net profit line."

12:44PM 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

AZN (77.42 +12.76%): Pfizer (PFE) confirmed prior discussions with AZN regarding a possible combination and its continuing interest in a possible merger transaction
ROP (137.11 +6.04%): Beat quarterly EPS by $0.11 ($1.46 vs $1.35 estimate), revs rose 13.1% yoy to $834 mln vs $823.59 mln estimate; sees Q2 EPS of $1.46-1.51 vs $1.46 estimate; sees FY14 EPS of $6.22-6.36 (raised from $6.05-6.25) vs $6.20 estimate
CHTR (136.9 +5.30%): Reported Q1 loss of -$0.35 per share, revs rose 7.5% yoy to $2.2 bln vs $2.18 bln estimate; Q1 EBITDA grew by 7.3% yoy on a pro forma basis

Large Cap Losers

LNKD (146.03 -7.67%): Mentioned cautiously at Barron's
NOV (77.69 -6.92%): Beat quarterly EPS by $0.01 ($1.40 ex $0.03 tax charge vs $1.39 estimate), revs rose 8.9% yoy to $5.78 bln vs $5.79 bln estimate
NEM (24.75 -6.43%): Co released a letter to Barrick Gold Corp (ABX) Board of Directors saying 'Our efforts to find consensus have been rejected out of hand repeatedly'

Mid Cap Gainers

NRF (17.52 +9.30%): Reuters reporting co is in discussions regarding a potential acquisition by American Realty Capital Properties (ARCP)
JCP (8.55 +7.14%): Mentioned positively by tier 1 firm
TECH (89.48 +6.68%): Beat quarterly EPS by $0.05 ($0.94 ex items vs $0.89 estimate), revs rose 18.0% yoy to $95.6 mln vs $92.5 mln estimate

Mid Cap Losers

OZM (11.58 -10.44%): WSJ reporting that certain of the company's loans are being investigated by the SEC and the Justice Department
EDU (23.57 -9.28%): Beat quarterly EPS by $0.01 ($0.30 vs $0.29 estimate), revs rose 16.4% yoy to $254.4 mln vs $266.99 mln estimate; sees Q4 revs of $278-287.6 mln vs $295.77 mln estimate
SOHU (52.72 -9.1%): Missed quarterly EPS by $0.13 (-$1.26 ex items vs -$1.13 estimate, revs rose 18.5% yoy to $365 mln vs $366.33 mln estimate; sees Q2 EPS of -$1.35 to -$1.25, revs of $397-411 mln vs $409.9 mln estimate

11:51AM Stocks/ETFs that traded to new 52 week highs/lows this session - New highs (96) even with new lows (96) (SCANX) : Stocks that traded to 52 week highs: AAPL, ABG, ADGE, AEP, AGN, AGRO, ARLP, ASX, ATO, AWK, AZN, BAH, BLL, BRK.A, BRK.B, BTI, BUD, CCK, CHC, CHD, CHMI, CHSP, CL, CLCT, CMS, CNL, CPK, CRESY, CWEI, CXP, D, DYN, EGAS, ESXB, EXR, GAS, GIS, GTIM, GXP, HCA, HFC, JFBI, JJSF, JNJ, KED, KR, LCUT, LPNT, LSI, MEMP, MO, MPET, NEE, NRF, NRG, NS, NU, NWE, ODFL, OPB, ORM, PAHC, PEG, PNM, POM, PPL, PSX, PTSI, QTS, RDS.B, REV, SAIA, SEP, SGU, SJT, SNDK, SPRO, SPWH, SRE, SUSP, SUSS, SYRG, SYX, TOT, TSLX, UGI, UNT, UTL, VLO, VNO, VVC, WEC, WFT, WNRL, WR, XEL

Stocks that traded to 52 week lows: ACAT, ACFN, ADVS, AMRC, AMSC, AMWD, ANGI, AQXP, ARQL, ATEA, ATHX, AUY, AXR, BLFS, BNFT, BTX, CACH, CCCR, CHOP, CNSI, COUP, CREE, CRMB, CRTO, CSLT, CVLT, CYOU, CYTK, DARA, DGII, DMD, EGRX, ESIO, EVRY, FBR, FCBC, FLXN, FUEL, GES, GHDX, GOOG, GSH, HAE, HELI, HMC, ICUI, IGT, IMI, IMPV, IPCM, KBR, LCNB, LITB, LNKD, LQDT, LUB, MDWD, MRLN, N, NEWL, NMBL, NMR, NSPH, NSR, OGXI, OIBR, OIBR.C, OSTK, PAL, PROV, QLIK, QSII, QTM, RARE, RUBI, SEAC, SFLY, SFM, SIGM, SINA, SOQ, SPEX, SUNS, SWSH, TCS, TECUA, TGE, TOPS, TWMC, TXTR, UNXL, VEEV, VRNS, VSTM, WLT, ZAZA

ETFs that traded to 52 week highs: DJP, DVY, FXB, IOO, IYK, JJA, RJA, XLP, XLU

ETFs that traded to 52 week lows: none

8:09AM Skyworks and Panasonic (PCRFY) Form JV for High Performance Filter Solutions; Skyworks Acquires Majority Interest for cash payment of $148.5 mln and Expects Transaction to be Immediately Accretive to Margins and EPS (SWKS) 41.46 : Skyworks Solutions (SWKS) announced the creation of a joint venture with Panasonic Corporation to design, develop and deliver high performance filters including surface acoustic wave (SAW) and temperature compensated (TC) SAW devices.

At closing, Skyworks will hold 66 percent of the newly created entity with Panasonic retaining 34 percent. The transaction encompasses the products, working capital, manufacturing equipment and intellectual property of Panasonic's Filter Division.
The joint venture will be comprised of approximately 590 employees and headquartered in Osaka, Japan with design centers and operations at facilities in Japan and Singapore. For consideration,
Skyworks will make a cash payment of $148.5 million to Panasonic for its share of the new venture. This investment is expected to be immediately accretive to Skyworks' margins and earnings per share. Skyworks and Panasonic expect the transaction to close before the end of the third calendar quarter of 2014, subject to customary closing conditions.

Xilinx (XLNX) announced immediate availability of the spring 2014 edition of its user magazine, Xcell Journal. Issue 87's cover story examines Xilinx's new Software Defined Specification Environment for Networking.