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From Briefing.com: 4:10 pm : Equities finished the Thursday session with broad-based losses after spending the entire day in the red. The S&P 500 settled lower by 0.9% with nine sectors registering losses, while the Russell 2000 lost 0.7% after being down as much as 1.9%.

Stocks slumped out of the gate with small caps leading the early slide even though the economic data that was reported ahead of the open was mostly better than expected. To be fair, a couple data points did miss expectations, but the first batch that included above-consensus weekly initial claims, in-line CPI, and the better than expected Empire Manufacturing Survey was met with a rally in the Treasury market.

Treasuries spiked into the green after the three economic reports crossed the wires, and continued their rally into the late morning. The 10-yr note added 13 ticks, pressuring its yield five basis points to 2.50%, after marking a session low at 2.47%. The benchmark yield ended today's session down 12 basis points for the week.

The continued strength in Treasuries weighed on the overall sentiment, causing participants to reduce their risk exposure. Fittingly, with Treasuries signaling unease about the strength of economic growth, today's weakest sectors came from the cyclical side.

Out of the six growth-sensitive sectors, four posted losses larger than the broader market. Energy, financials, industrials, and materials lost between 1.0% and 1.5%, while consumer discretionary (-0.7%) and technology (-0.8%) outperformed.

The consumer discretionary sector lagged for the better part of the session, but was able to reclaim a portion of its losses during the afternoon. Homebuilders held up relatively well, which was likely a function of lower yields. The iShares Dow Jones US Home Construction ETF (ITB 23.09, -0.07) shed 0.3%.

Elsewhere, the technology sector was underpinned by the shares of Cisco Systems (CSCO 24.18, +1.37), which rallied 6.0% in reaction to better than expected earnings and revenue. Chipmakers, however, could not keep pace with the sector as the PHLX Semiconductor Index fell 1.2%.

Things looked a bit better on the countercyclical side as this month's leading sector-telecom services (+0.2%)-extended its May advance to 2.8%, while the utilities space (-0.4%) posted a modest loss. The other two defensive groups registered losses that were more in line with the S&P 500. Health care (-1.0%) lagged, while the consumer staples sector (-0.9%) kept pace with the broader market even as its top component-Wal-Mart (WMT 76.83, -1.91)-weighed. The retail giant tumbled 2.4% after reporting disappointing results, coupled with cautious guidance.

Today's selloff invited above-average participation as 732 million shares changed hands at the NYSE, representing the highest total since last Wednesday.

Economic data was plentiful and mostly better than expected:

The initial claims level fell below 300,000 to 297,000 for the week ending May 10 from an upwardly revised 321,000 (from 319,000) for the week ending May 3. The Briefing.com consensus expected the initial claims level to increase to 325,000. According to the Department of Labor, there were no special factors that caused the initial claims level to fall unexpectedly to its lowest level since May 2007.
Consumer prices increased 0.3% in April, up from a 0.2% increase in March. The Briefing.com consensus expected the CPI to increase 0.3%. Food prices increased 0.4% for a fourth consecutive month. A big increase in producer food prices in April will likely pass through to consumers and keep upward pressure on the CPI food index. Energy costs, which fell 0.1% in March, increased 0.3% in April. Excluding food and energy, core CPI increased 0.2% for a second consecutive month in April, matching consensus expectations.
The Empire Manufacturing Survey for May registered a reading of 19.0, which was up from the prior month's reading of 1.3. Economists polled by Briefing.com expected the survey to improve to 4.8.
The March net long-term TIC flows report indicated an $85.70 billion inflow of foreign capital into U.S. denominated assets. This followed the prior month's revised $90.30 billion inflow.
Industrial production declined 0.6% in April after increasing an upwardly revised 0.9% (from 0.7%) in March. The Briefing.com consensus expected industrial production to be flat in April. As expected, warmer weather conditions reduced the need for utilities consumption. Output/production in utilities fell 5.3% in April after increasing 0.6% in March.
The Philadelphia Fed's Business Outlook showed a slight deceleration in manufacturing growth in May. The diffusion index fell to 15.4 from 16.6 in April. The Briefing.com consensus expected the index to fall to 9.1.
The May NAHB Housing Market Index fell to 45 from 46, while the Briefing.com consensus expected the reading to increase to 48.

Tomorrow, Housing Starts (Briefing.com consensus 975,000) and Building Permits (consensus 1.008 million) for April will be released at 8:30 ET, while the preliminary Michigan Consumer Sentiment survey (expected 84.5) will be announced at 9:55 ET.

S&P 500 +1.2% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average -0.8% YTD
Nasdaq Composite -2.6% YTD
Russell 2000 -5.6% YTD

DJ30 -167.16 NASDAQ -31.33 SP500 -17.68 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 838/1.93 bln/1919 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 927/733.0 mln/2131

3:30 pm :

Precious metals traded lower today as jobless claims fell below 300K. The initial claims level fell to 297K for the week ending May 10 from an upwardly revised 321K (from 319K) for the week ending May 3. The Briefing.com consensus expected the initial claims level to increase to 325K.
June gold dropped to a session low of $1290.90 per ounce after trading as high as $1303.60 per ounce at pit trade open. It eventually settled with a 0.9% loss at $1293.70 per ounce.
July silver pulled back from its session high of $19.67 per ounce set in early morning action and traded as low as $19.43 per ounce. Unable to gain momentum, it settled with a 1.5% loss at $19.49 per ounce. June crude oil fell for the first time in four sessions, trading as low as $101.27 per barrel in early afternoon action. The energy component retreated from a session high of $102.19 per barrel and settled at $101.46 per barrel, or 0.9% lower.
June natural gas rallied sharply into positive territory following inventory data that showed a build of 105 bcf when a build of 95-99 bcf was anticipated. It climbed to a session high of $4.51 per MMBtu in late morning action and settled with a 2.1% gain at $4.46 per MMBtu.

4:08PM Applied Materials reports EPS in-line, revs in-line; guides Q3 in-line (AMAT) 18.69 -0.26 : Reports Q2 (Apr) earnings of $0.28 per share, excluding non-recurring items, in-line with the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate consensus of $0.28; revenues rose 19.3% year/year to $2.35 bln vs the $2.35 bln consensus.

Applied generated orders of $2.63 billion, up 15% from the prior quarter led by increases in Display and Silicon Systems. Net sales of $2.35 billion were up 7% sequentially led by growth in Silicon Systems.
Non-GAAP adjusted gross margin increased 170 basis points from the prior quarter to 44.2%.

Co issues in-line guidance for Q3, sees EPS of $0.25-0.29, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.27 Capital IQ Consensus; sees Q3 revs of (5)-0% QoQ to ~$2.24-2.35 vs. $2.31 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
Backlog grew 12% sequentially to $2.74 billion including positive adjustments of $23 million, primarily related to EES re-bookings. Backlog composition by segment was: SSG 53%; AGS 24%; Display 17%; and EES 6%.

2:30PM Riverbed Technology: Elliott comments on ISS and Glass Lewis Riverbed recommendations; ISS and Glass Lewis recommend against nearly all of RVBD's proposals (RVBD) 19.24 -0.30 : Co issued a public statement regarding Riverbed Technology in connection with the recent news that ISS and Glass Lewis have recommended voting against nearly all of Riverbed's proposals at its annual meeting on May 22nd. Elliott portfolio manager Jesse Cohn also commented on a presentation that Riverbed filed in response to mounting criticism of its corporate governance track record.

Jesse Cohn, portfolio manager at Elliott Management stated, "Yesterday's filing by Riverbed weakly and mistakenly attempts to defend its entrenched and shareholder-unfriendly practices. The Board clearly remains unresponsive to shareholders' concerns, including the concerns voiced recently by another large Riverbed shareholder about the Company's failure to engage with potential buyers at a premium to the current market value. It is no wonder that both ISS and Glass Lewis have come out against the Board's proposals."

Large Cap Gainers

CSCO (24.32 +6.62%): Beat on EPS by $0.03, beat on revs; guided Q4 EPS in-line, Q4 revs above consensus; target raised to $23 from $19 at FBR Capital; target raised to $26 from $24 at Piper Jaffray; tgt raised to $27 from $25 at Oppenheimer; tgt raised to $24 from $23 at RBC Capital Mkts.
SYMC (21.73 +1.47%): ValueAct disclosed new ~ 7.6 mln share position in co.
AZN (79.02 +0.93%): Co disclosed new data from co's investigational cancer medicines; updated data from the ongoing Phase I AURA study show that to date AZD9291 is well tolerated.

Large Cap Losers

BMY (48.6 -6.75%): Co's investigational PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitor nivolumab received FDA Breakthrough Therapy Designation for Hodgkin lymphoma; nivolumab showed antitumor activity in previously treated and chemotherapy-naive patients in Phase 1b non-small cell lung cancer trials; downgraded to Mkt Perform from Outperform at BMO Capital Mkts;
STO (29.96 -4.1%): Downgraded to Sector Perform at RBC Capital Mkts.
CA (28.95 -3.72%): Beat on EPS by $0.01, reported revs in-line; guided FY15 EPS below consensus, revs in-line.

Mid Cap Gainers

VIPS (154.87 +3.25%): Beat on EPS by $0.17, beat on revs; guided Q2 revs above consensus.
SABR (16.34 +3.68%): Reported Q1 EPS of $0.18 (no est); revs increased 7% YoY to $661.2 mln (no est); sees FY14 consolidated revs of $2.985-3.015 bln (no ests); sees FY14 EPS of $0.86-0.92 (no ests).
PAH (20.24 +1.61%): Co entered into subscription agreements with certain eligible purchasers for the purchase of a total of 15.8 mln shares of its common stock for an aggregate purchase price of $300.2 mln, or $19.00 per share.

Mid Cap Losers

ACXM (21.16 -22.03%): Beat on EPS by $0.04, reported revs in-line; guided FY14 revs below consensus; upgraded to Mkt Perform from Underperform at BMO Capital Mkt; co to acquire LiveRamp for ~$310 mln in cash; acquisition will be dilutive on both a GAAP and non-GAAP basis.
WX (31.24 -14.18%): Missed on EPS by $0.09, reported revs in-line; guided Q2 EPS below consensus, revs below consensus; guided FY14 EPS below consensus, revs below consensus.
CXP (26.7 -7.48%): Downgraded to Equal-Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley.

12:03PM Stocks/ETFs that traded to new 52 week highs/lows this session - New lows (160) outpacing new highs (24) (SCANX) : Stocks that traded to 52 week highs: BAM, BBL, BWL.A, CBEY, ETE, EW, GTIV, HBM, HTWO, MC, MIC, NGG, NGLS, NJR, NVS, OILT, ORCL, PTX, SHG, SRLP, TU, UL, UN, WIN

Stocks that traded to 52 week lows: ACAT, ACPW, ACST, ACTS, ACUR, ADTN, AGI, AMWD, AMZG, ANGI, AREX, ARQL, ARTNA, AXR, BANC, BBSI, BECN, BGFV, BHLB, BLMN, BRC, BV, CAS, CCNE, CGA, CGG, CIT, CNSI, COH, CREE, CRIS, CUO, CVT, DEST, DGII, DISCA, DRD, DSCI, DTLK, DTSI, DWCH, ELRC, EMXX, END, ENTR, ESIO, EV, EVAR, EVRY, EXXI, FCBC, FEYE, FFKT, FHCO, FLL, FNGN, FRSH, FSYS, FXCB, GLMD, GNE, GWRE, HCT, HDNG, HGR, HTBI, HTLF, IGT, IILG, IIVI, IKAN, IMI, IMRS, KBH, KBR, KGC, KOPN, KRO, L, LEI, LGL, LIQD, LXRX, MBII, MCP, MEIP, MELA, MFLX, MLNX, MOFG, MOSY, MRGE, MTH, MTSL, NDLS, NEON, NEWL, NEWS, NL, NPBC, NPTN, NVTL, OIBR, OMEX, OMG, ONE, ORIT, PGEM, PIKE, PINC, PIR, QRM, QUAD, RKUS, RNG, RST, RTI, RVLT, SC, SCL, SDT, SFXE, SIGM, SKYW, SLRC, SPLK, SPPR, SPU, SQBK, SREV, SRI, STML, STNR, SUSQ, SUTR, TBNK, TCCO, TCRD, TEU, TFM, TG, TGE, TRGT, TROV, UACL, UBNK, UCFC, VGGL, VIAS, VIP, VJET, VLTC, VOXX, VRNS, WETF, WIX, WMAR, WPP, WTSL, XXIA

ETFs that traded to 52 week highs: MBB, SHY

ETFs that traded to 52 week lows: TBT

IXYS (IXYS) and Torex Semiconductor announced the formation of a sales relationship aimed at increasing product adoption in consumer applications worldwide.

4:30AM Tower Semicon misses by $0.07; misses on revs; sees Q2 revs above consensus (TSEM) 8.45 : Reports Q1 EPS of $0.24 vs $0.31 CIQ estimate; revs increased 18% YoY to $132.7 mln vs $133.8 mln CIQ est.

Guidance:
Co sees Q2 revs to be ~$230 mln (+/-5%) vs $221.7 mln CIQ estimate.

Texas Instruments (TXN) introduced the automotive industry's first two-channel switching LED driver for front lights and the only linear LED driver with single short LED detection for rear lights.

Cisco Systems (CSCO) reported third quarter earnings of $0.51 per share, excluding non-recurring items, which is higher than expected, while revenues fell 5.5% year/year to $11.54 billion which is higher than expected. Cisco repurchased approximately 90 million shares of common stock under the stock repurchase program at an average price of $22.24 per share for an aggregate purchase price of $2.0 billion during the third quarter of fiscal 2014. The company expects Q4 revenues to decline 1-3% y/y, which would represent growth of approximately 4-6% q/q (approximately $12.0-12.2 billion); which is above estimates. The company sees FY14 EPS at the high end of prior guidance of $1.95-2.05 which is line with estimates.
Agilent (A) reported second quarter earnings of $0.72 per share, excluding non-recurring items, which is worse than expected, while revenues fell 0.1% year/year to $1.73 billion which is line with estimates. The company sees EPS of $0.72-0.74 which is below estimates and revenues of $1.74-1.76 billion which is line with estimates. The company issued guidance for the fiscal year 2014 with EPS of $2.96-3.16 & revenues of $6.90-7.10 billion which is in line with estimates.
Wi-Lan (WILN) announced that its Board of Directors has concluded its review of strategic alternatives for the Company. "Following a comprehensive process involving financial advisor Canaccord Genuity, the Board of Directors determined that it is in the best interests of the Company and our shareholders to execute an updated business plan focused on business diversification, licensing partnerships, improved profitability and increasing the return of cash generated from operations to shareholders." "We have established a roadmap to increase GAAP earnings to at least $0.30 per share by 2018 by more than doubling our revenues and increasing our operating leverage. If these targets are achieved, the strong profitability of our business will drive higher returns to shareholders through quarterly dividends that we will strive to increase regularly. The first increase, to $0.05 per quarter per share, represents a 25% increase and will take effect with the Q2 2014 declaration. At today's share price, this represents a yield of approximately 5.6%." The board has also approved the entering into of a Normal Course Issuer Bid to repurchase for cancellation upto 10% of the issued and outstanding common shares of the Company subject to the receipt of regulatory and other approvals.