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From Briefing.com: 4:10 pm : The stock market ended the Thursday session on an upbeat note with blue chips showing relative strength for the second consecutive day. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (+0.4%) and S&P 500 (+0.3%) settled ahead of the Russell 2000 (+0.2%) and the Nasdaq Composite (+0.1%). It is worth mentioning the benchmark index posted its fourth consecutive gain, registering a new record closing high at 1992.38.

Equity indices climbed out of the gate thanks to early strength among the four countercyclical sectors. Despite the early outperformance, the defensively-oriented sectors ended below their opening highs, while the six cyclical groups were mixed. Financials (+1.1%) and technology (+0.5%) contributed to the modest advance, while other heavily-weighted groups like consumer discretionary (-0.1%), industrials (unch), and energy (unch) kept the market from going on a bigger run.

The health care sector (+0.1%) was an early leader, but finished near its low amid weakness in biotechnology. The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 264.45, -2.40) ended lower by 0.9% after spending the session in a steady retreat. The ETF succumbed to profit taking after soaring 6.0% since last Tuesday.

In addition to pressuring the health care sector, biotechnology weighed on the Nasdaq, but the relative strength of the tech sector helped the index finish in the green. Intel (INTC 35.15, +0.65) and IBM (IBM 191.23, +1.13) posted respective gains of 1.9% and 0.6%, while Hewlett-Packard (HPQ 37.00, +1.88) jumped 5.4% after reporting in--line earnings.

Elsewhere, the financial sector spent the session in a steady climb. Bank of America (BAC 16.16, +0.64) was a notable standout, surging 4.1% after confirming its settlement with the Department of Justice, which is expected to negatively impact Q3 earnings by about $0.43 per share. The magnitude of today's advance on heavy volume suggests participants believe a big overhang is now gone and the bank can realize its full potential by focusing on its core business rather than being preoccupied with litigation.

The remaining cyclical sectors lagged throughout the day with the consumer discretionary space spending the session near its flat line. Retailers struggled following disappointing earnings from Sears Holdings (SHLD 33.38, -2.57), Kirklands (KIRK17.30, -1.68), Buckle (BKE 48.78, +1.70), Bon-Ton Stores (BONT 10.21, +1.16), and Dollar Tree (DLTR 54.28, -0.72). The broader SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT 87.49, -0.19) shed 0.2%. On the upside, L Brands (LB 63.72, +0.74) gained 1.2% after reporting a one-cent beat.

Despite the gains in equities, Treasuries maintained a bullish bias throughout the session. The 10-yr note added seven ticks with its yield slipping two basis points to 2.41%.

Participation remained below average with just over 550 million shares changing hands at the NYSE.

Economic data included Initial Claims, Existing Home Sales, Philadelphia Fed Survey, and Leading Indicators:


The initial claims level fell to 298,000 from an upwardly revised 312,000, while the Briefing.com consensus expected a decline to 308,000
The Department of Labor reiterated that there were no special factors that influenced the initial claims level, suggesting the reading resulted from an improvement in labor market conditions
Existing home sales increased 2.4% to 5.15 million SAAR in July from a slightly downwardly revised 5.03 million SAAR (from 5.04 million) in June, while the Briefing.com consensus expected a decline to 5.00 million SAAR
This was the fourth consecutive monthly gain and contrasted with the downward move in both the Pending Home Sales Index and MBA Mortgage Purchase Index
Sales are down 4.3% from a year ago
The Philadelphia Fed's Business Outlook Survey increased to 28.0 in August from 23.9 in July, while the Briefing.com consensus expected a drop to 15.5
The strength in the headline result is confusing and masks an oddly weaker subset of data
Outside of the headline result, the only gains came from the average workweek index (13.3 from 12.5) and inventories (8.3 from 4.8)
The Conference Board's Index of Leading Indicators increased 0.9% in July after increasing an upwardly revised 0.6% (from 0.3%) in June, while the Briefing.com consensus expected an increase of 0.6%

There is no economic data on tomorrow's schedule.

Nasdaq Composite +8.5% YTD
S&P 500 +7.8% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average +2.8% YTD
Russell 2000 -0.3% YTD

DJ30 +60.43 NASDAQ +5.62 SP500 +5.86 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1509/1.31 bln/1231 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1833/554.4 mln/1206 3:35 pm :

Dec gold declined for a fifth consecutive session as economic data this morning showed that the initial claims level fell to 298K from an upwardly revised 312K. The Briefing.com consensus expected a decline to 308K. The yellow metal fell as low as $1273.40 per ounce, its lowest level since June. Unable to gain buying support, it settled with a 1.5% loss at $1275.20 per ounce.
Sep silver also chopped around in negative territory and touched a session low of $19.32 per ounce in early morning action. It eventually settled at $19.41 per ounce, or 0.5% lower.
Sep crude oil lifted from its session low of $92.98 per barrel in early morning action and broke into positive territory. It trended higher to a session high of $94.45 per barrel and settled with a 0.6% gain at $93.97 per barrel.
Sep natural gas fell from its session high of $3.91 per MMBtu following inventory data that showed a build of 88 bcf when a build of 82-83 bcf was anticipated. It brushed a session low of $3.79 per MMBtu but managed to recover back into positive territory in afternoon action. Natural gas eventually settled 1.8% higher at $3.89 per MMBtu.

4:17 pm Brocade beats by $0.04, beats on revs (BRCD) : Reports Q3 (Jul) non-GAAP earnings of $0.23 per share, $0.04 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.19; revenues rose 1.7% year/year to $545.5 mln vs the $532.6 mln consensus.


"With another solid quarter behind us, we are seeing the tangible benefits of our data center focused strategy...The resilience and durability of our SAN business, along with strong Brocade VDX sales, validate our strategic direction." SAN business revenue, including products and services, was $380 mln, up 3% year-over-year and flat sequentially. "The revenue performance was better than expected in a typically soft demand quarter."4:10 pm Marvell beats by $0.06, reports revs in-line; guides Q3 EPS below consensus, revs in-line (MRVL) : Reports Q2 (Jul) earnings of $0.34 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.06 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.28; revenues rose 19.2% year/year to $962 mln vs the $961.57 mln consensus.


Co issues downside Q3 EPS guidance of $0.27-0.31, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.32 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q3 revs of $0.96-1.0 bln vs. $1.01 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

12:37 pm 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


EBAY (55.99 +4.85%): Renewed PayPal spin off speculation made the rounds.
HPQ (36.9 +5.07%): Reported EPS in-line, beat on revs; guided Q4 EPS in-line; sees FY14 y/y rev decline of 6-7% (calcs to ~$104.4-105.6 bln vs $111.1 bln est).
HRL (50.51 +5.53%): Beat on EPS by $0.03, beat on revs; reaffirmed FY14 EPS guidance.

Large Cap Losers
JD (30.73 -0.65%): JD.com's Paipai rumored to add support for Tencent's (TCEHY) WeChat Pay, according to Marbridge.
DLTR (54.46 -0.98%): Missed on EPS by $0.02, reported revs in-line; guided Q3 in-line; guided FY15 EPS below consensus, raised FY15 revs, comp guidance; Family Dollar (FDO) issued statement rejecting buyout proposal from Dollar General (DG) - supports DLTR merger.

Mid Cap Gainers

SNPS (41.65 +5.98%): Beat on EPS by $0.05, reported revs in-line; guided Q4 EPS below consensus, revs in-line.
BKE (48.7 +3.44%): Missed on EPS by $0.02, reported revs in-line with pre-announcement; CRT Capital remains cautious on BKE until comps improve.
SBH (27.55 +2.72%): Co's Board authorized new $1 bln share repurchase program.

Mid Cap Losers

SHLD (33.25 -7.51%): Missed on EPS by $0.24, missed on revs (limited analyst coverage).
WUBA (46.99 -7.11%): Beat single estimate, beat on revs; guided Q3 revs below dual est.
CCJ (19.59 -4.71%): Beat on EPS by $0.02, missed on revs; downgraded to Market Perform at Cowen; tgt lowered to $20 from $25.

12:11 pm DuPont files patent infringement lawsuit against SunEdison (SUNE) (DD) : Co filed a patent infringement lawsuit against SunEdison (SUNE) and its affiliate NVT LLC in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware.

In its complaint, DuPont alleges that by sourcing and using photovoltaic cells and solar modules containing Samsung (SSNLF) SDI front side metallization paste, SunEdison infringes DuPont's patented tellurium paste technology. The complaint also identifies Neo Solar Power of Taiwan as the cell manufacturer and Flextronics (FLEX) as SunEdison's contract manufacturer.

11:54 am Stocks/ETFs that traded to new 52 week highs/lows this session - New highs (161) outpacing new lows (48) (:SCANX) : Stocks that traded to 52 week highs: ACCO, ADP, AGX, AKR, ALL, APH, ARE, ARW, AVB, AVGO, BAM, BBD, BJRI, BLX, BMR, BRX, BXP, CCI, CDNS, CDW, CENX, CHH, CM, CMG, CNI, COO, CP, CPL, CPT, CRI, CTP, CVS, CW, DDR, DIS, DKL, DLR, DRE, DRH, ECF, ECL, EEQ, EFC, EIX, ELS, ENSG, EQIX, EQR, ESS, EW, EXP, FDS, FFIV, FIS, FISV, FL, FLT, FRF, FRT, GBX, GCO, GD, GGP, HCC, HCN, HD, HDB, HPQ, HRB, HRL, HSH, IBA, IESC, IHS, INN, INTC, ITUB, IVZ, JBLU, JRJC, KED, KEX, KRC, KSS, KTCC, LAZ, LG, LMT, LNBB, LOW, LPL, LTC, LUV, MAG, MAR, MATW, MCRL, MGA, MNDL, MNR, MPW, MRD, MTD, MUSA, NATI, NEU, NFLX, NOC, PBA, PDM, PEB, PEP, PERY, PFG, PHI, PJC, PSA, PUK, QRE, REG, RPM, RSG, RY, SAVE, SBSI, SEIC, SFL, SHW, SMLP, SNPS, ST, SUSP, SVU, TECD, TRN, TRT, TTM, TWOU, UAL, UDR, UEIC, UGI, UHS, UNP, VGR, WEX, WLK, WM, WMS, WOOF, WPC, WPX, WRB, WRE, WRI, WY, XRS, XRX, ZSPH, ZTS, ZUMZ

Stocks that traded to 52 week lows: ACY, ANTH, APO, AQXP, ARCO, AREX, ARTW, AVL, BAXS, CACG, CALI, COUP, CTG, CYTX, ECT, EGT, END, ENTR, ENVI, FST, FUEL, FWM, GES, GIMO, GKNT, GLCH, HERO, IRG, KING, LDR, LPI, ORRF, PERI, PT, QLGC, QRM, RAVN, SCL, SSI, STML, SUNS, SUTR, TIGR, TITN, TRMR, UNTK, VCRA, WMK

ETFs that traded to 52 week highs: AMJ, EEB, EWW, ICF, IHF, IWF, IYF, IYH, IYR, OEF, QQQ, RTH, SPY, URE, VNQ, VTI, XLB, XLF, XLK, XLV, XLY

ETFs that traded to 52 week lows: none


Analyst comments: PLAB +4.1% (upgraded to Buy from Hold at Needham),

SunEdison (SUNE) has closed a $160 mln fund for distributed generation projects in the U.S. with Barclays and Citi. The lease pass-through fund represents a unique structure that will provide the tax equity for 40 U.S. projects. The portfolio includes a mix of ground-mounted, rooftop and canopy photovoltaic systems with an average size of 1.1 megawatts per project.

The information technology sector (+0.5%) got things turned around and outperformed the S&P 500 (+0.3%) on Thursday. It did so under the leadership of Hewlett-Packard (HPQ 37.00, +1.88), which rallied 5.4% after reporting its fiscal third quarter earnings results.

Although HP's report left plenty to be desired, investors continued to embrace its turnaround plan, bolstered by the recognition that HP reported revenue growth for the first time in 12 quarters. It wasn't much -- just 1.3% -- but it was something that has been missing for a long time. Notably, the company's Personal Systems group was the engine for that growth, achieving a 12% revenue increase versus the year-ago period.

The strength in the latter area, which management said was owed in part to the Windows XP expiration, helped drive gains in related stocks like IBM (IBM 191.23, +1.13), Intel (INTC 35.15, +0.65), Microsoft (MSFT 45.22, +0.27), and Seagate Technology (STX 60.43, +0.60).

On a related note, there was some talk that Microsoft is getting ready to release the Windows 9 operating system on September 30. That date was not confirmed by Microsoft.

Sector heavyweight Apple (AAPL 100.58, +0.01) didn't do much, but importantly for the sector's performance it didn't go down. Google (GOOG 583.37, -1.12) and Facebook (FB 74.57, -0.24), however, did not participate in Thursday's advance.

The lack of selling pressure in many of the sector's most influential, and widely-held, components left the sector on stable footing throughout the day. Only the financial sector (+1.1%), which got a boost from Bank of America's (BAC 16.16, +0.64) near $17 bln settlement with the Department of Justice for its dealings in mortgage-backed securities leading up to the financial crisis, did better than the information technology sector on Thursday.

eBay (EBAY 55.89, +2.49) was another big-name stock that showed some moxie. It jumped 4.7% on heavy volume following some rumors it may be entertaining a spin-off of PayPal.

Other sector components simply played the part of the good soldier, posting either modest gains or modest losses. In fact, there wasn't a single stock in the sector that declined more than 1.0% on Thursday.

Looking elsewhere across the technology sector landscape, Semtech (SMTC 25.15, +1.15) continued to advance on speculation it could be a takeover target; however, it also had the added benefit of reporting better than expected second quarter results.

Similarly, Synopsys (SNPS 41.75, +2.45), which is a software, IP, and services company that caters to the semiconductor industry, got a nice boost following its better than expected fiscal third quarter report.

On Friday, the market will have its eyes and ears turned to the Jackson Hole Symposium. Fed Chair Yellen will be speaking there at 10:00 a.m. ET about the labor market. The tone of her remarks, and the perceived implications for the path of monetary policy, is expected to drive the trading action for the broader market and the technology sector.