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Following the Governing Council policy meeting on Thursday, ECB President Mario Draghi said in his press conference that the ECB stands ready, and is now making timely preparations, to provide more policy stimulus if necessary.

How did the stock market react to that news? In much the same way it has reacted to every policy pledge of support the last six years: it ate it up and added to its recent gains.

Granted the gains were modest in scope. Yet, a 0.4% increase for the S&P 500 -- after it had already risen 10.8% from its October 15 low -- was big in sentiment stature.

The immediate risk going into Friday's session is the employment report for October turning out stronger than expected and driving a spike in long-term rates that flows from the notion that a rate hike from the Fed will be coming sooner rather than later. For Thursday, however, the sunny-side up view prevailed with cyclical sectors leading the broader market's advance.

Another encouraging initial claims report helped underpin things along with Mr. Draghi's remarks, which knocked the euro-dollar cross (1.2373) down to its lowest level in more than two years and to the doorstep of where it was when Mr. Draghi said in July 2012 that he will do whatever it takes to protect the euro.

The S&P 500 information technology sector (-0.1%) was a conspicuous laggard in Thursday's trade.

Qualcomm (QCOM 70.58, -6.62) was one of the main reasons why. It got slammed following its disappointing fiscal fourth quarter report and outlook, and revelation that the FTC and European Commission have both launched new investigations into its business.

Qualcomm's weakness was a major drag on the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, which slipped 0.9%. A disappointing earnings report from SunEdison (SUNE 18.37, -0.51) also factored into the weakness while an earnings miss from chip equipment maker Kulicke & Soffa (KLIC 13.81, -0.60) spurred some profit-taking interest in other semiconductor-related issues.

Elsewhere on the earnings front, Symantec (SYMC 25.07, -0.11) sputtered after reporting better than expected fiscal second quarter results and issuing slightly disappointing third quarter guidance. Teradata (TDC 42.68, +1.62), on the other hand, jumped 4.0% following a third quarter report and outlook that the analyst at Mizuho labeled "better than feared." Mizuho, nonetheless, maintained its Neutral rating on the stock following the report due to the lack of a catalyst and continued slowdown in large accounts.

Teradata was the biggest percentage gainer in the sector on Thursday. Qualcomm was the biggest loser followed by Western Digital (WDC 97.86, -3.42),which dropped 3.4% after announcing an underwritten secondary public offering of 5,434,783 shares of its common stock by Hitachi, Ltd.

The biggest component in the sector -- Apple (AAPL 108.70, -0.16) -- sat things out, which factored prominently in the sector's underperformance.

Separately, Tableau Software (DATA 84.29, +7.79) had a banner day, rising 10.2% after reporting better than expected third quarter results and providing better than expected fourth quarter guidance. The report drew praise from a number of brokerage firms, including RBC Capital, which upgraded the stock to Outperform from Sector Perform and raised its price target to $100 from $78.

4:34 pm NVIDIA beats by $0.04, beats on revs; guides Q4 revs in-line (NVDA) : Reports Q3 (Oct) earnings of $0.39 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.04 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.35; revenues rose 16.2% year/year to $1.23 bln vs the $1.2 bln consensus.

Gross margin of 55.5% inline with co's guidance of 55-56%
Co intends to return ~$600 mln to shareholders in fiscal 2016 through ongoing quarterly cash dividends and share repurchases.
Co issues in-line guidance for Q4, sees Q4 revs of $1.2 bln, plus or minus 2%, vs. $1.2 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees non-GAAP gross margin of 55.5% plus or minus 50bps; sees CAPEX of $40-50 mln.

4:29 pm Univ Elec beats by $0.05, misses on revs; guides Q4 EPS in-line, revs below consensus (UEIC) :

Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $0.80 per share, $0.05 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.75; revenues rose 3.8% year/year to $147.8 mln vs the $153.27 mln consensus.
Co issues mixed guidance for Q4, sees EPS of $0.59-0.69 vs. $0.64 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q4 revs of $134.0-142.0 mln vs. $143.09 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

4:25 pm Microsemi reports EPS in-line, revs in-line; guides Q1 EPS in-line (MSCC) : Reports Q4 (Sep) earnings of $0.64 per share, in-line with the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.64; revenues rose 21.1% year/year to $303.3 mln vs the $301.92 mln consensus.

Co issues in-line guidance for Q1, sees EPS of $0.63-0.68 vs. $0.65 Capital IQ Consensus Estimateexpects Q1 sales to be flat with a range of plus or minus 2 percent (on a qtr/qtr basis, consensus calls for flat revs)

4:23 pm Skyworks reports Q4 results in-line with Oct 14 guidance; guides DecQ EPS above consensus, revs above consensus (SWKS) : Reports Q4 (Sep) earnings of $1.12 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.04 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $1.08, note, co guided to $1.08 on October 14; revenues rose 50.6% year/year to $718.2 mln, in-line with the Oct 14 pre-annoucnement of $718 mln and vs the $718.2 mln consensus. Co issues upside guidance for Q1 (Dec), sees EPS of approx $1.18, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $1.08 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q1 revs of approx $770 mln vs. $724.3 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

4:15 pm Rubicon Tech beats by $0.05, misses on revs; guides Q4 below consensus (RBCN) :

Reports Q3 (Sep) loss of $0.36 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.05 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of ($0.41); revenues fell 27.9% year/year to $8 mln vs the $9.2 mln consensus.
Co issues downside guidance for Q4, sees GAAP EPS of ($0.42)-($0.38) vs. ($0.34) Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q4 revs "similar to Q3" vs. $11.10 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.
"We expect continued progress in growing the wafer business, particularly with PSS wafers. We are seeing improvement in the two-inch market, however, pricing remains very challenging. Although the pricing environment improved in the first half of the year, the excess supply of two-inch in the third quarter drove pricing for two-inch core 30 percent lower than the previous quarter. With inventory levels of two-inch material in the supply chain declining, we hope to see improvement in two-inch material pricing in the first quarter of 2015. While we are seeing increasing interest in two-inch material in the fourth quarter, four-inch demand is very weak due to seasonality in the LED market. While the general lighting segment is growing steadily, the backlighting market continues to represent a large portion of overall LED demand and that segment continues to experience seasonality with the fourth quarter typically being the weakest quarter. This year, the seasonality is more impactful because of a higher level of inventory in the supply chain. As a result, we expect fourth quarter revenue to be similar to the third quarter but then to begin improving in the first quarter with a recovery in the four-inch market along with continued growth in our wafer business..."

4:13 pm Closing Market Summary: Stocks Climb Ahead of October Jobs Report (:WRAPX) : Equity indices registered modest gains on Thursday ahead of the Nonfarm Payrolls report for October (Briefing.com consensus 235,000), which will be released tomorrow. The S&P 500 added 0.4% with seven sectors ending in the green.

The key indices spent the entire session in a slow and steady climb off their opening lows, but the same could not be said for the greenback.

The Dollar Index (88.08, +0.64) spiked 0.7% after the European Central Bank released its latest policy statement. Although the central bank did not announce any changes, the euro tumbled below 1.2380 against the dollar after Mario Draghi said the bank will begin purchases of asset-backed securities soon and will not hesitate to introduce additional easing if needed. The reminder of willingness to consider additional measures boosted European equities and helped U.S. futures climb off their overnight lows.

However, it should be noted that the ECB has already discussed its intentions to begin ABS purchases in the past. Furthermore Mr. Draghi's comments about additional easing contrasted with Tuesday's Reuters story, which claimed nearly half of the ECB board opposes the implementation of a sovereign quantitative easing program.

The resulting dollar strength weighed on crude oil (77.90, -0.78), but the energy sector (+1.3%) ended in the lead despite showing early weakness. The sector climbed to highs during the final hour of the session, rising above the industrial space (+1.1%), which led for the bulk of the day.

Industrials received strong support from General Electric (GE 26.36, +0.54) as the top-weighted sector component reclaimed its 200-day moving average, spiking 2.1% to levels last seen in mid-September. Transports also fared well with the Dow Jones Transportation Average jumping 1.3%.

Elsewhere among cyclical sectors, consumer discretionary (+0.9%) and materials (+0.8%) displayed strength while financials (+0.1%) and technology (-0.1%) lagged.

The materials sector was boosted by miners after Randgold Resources (GOLD 64.61, +5.45) reported earnings. The company missed bottom-line estimates, but investors cheered news indicating Randgold has closed its revolving credit facility. The stock spiked 9.2% while the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX 17.21, +0.62) jumped 3.7%.

On the downside, technology (-0.1%) spent the day in negative territory after Qualcomm (QCOM 70.57, -6.63) reported disappointing results. Shares of QCOM plunged 8.6% while the PHLX Semiconductor Index lost 0.9%.

The losses among chipmakers weighed on the Nasdaq, but the index caught up to the broader market during the final hour. Biotechnology factored into the afternoon strength with the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 293.32, +4.42) climbing 1.5%. For its part, the health care sector (+0.6%) settled ahead of the remaining countercyclical groups.

Treasuries ended on their lows with the 10-yr yield up four basis points at 2.38%.

Participation was ahead of average with more than 730 million shares changing hands at the NYSE floor.

Economic data included Initial Claims, Productivity/Labor Cost data, and Challenger Job Cuts:

Nonfarm labor productivity increased 2.0% in the third quarter, down from an upwardly revised 2.9% (from 2.3%) gain in the second quarter The Briefing.com consensus expected an increase of 1.5% Output growth decelerated in the third quarter, increasing 4.4% after a 5.5% increase in the second quarter, which was in-line with third quarter GDP growth The relatively weaker output level resulted in a modest acceleration in unit labors costs, up 0.3% after declining 0.5% in Q2 2014 Initial Claims declined to 278,000 from a revised rate of 288,000 (from 287,000), while the Briefing.com consensus expected a reading of 285,000 Claims have held below the 300,000 mark for the past several weeks, setting expectations for relatively strong job growth
The Challenger Job Cuts report for October rose 11.9% to follow the prior decline of 24.4%
Tomorrow, the October Nonfarm Payrolls report (Briefing.com consensus 235,000) will be released at 8:30 ET while the Consumer Credit report for September (consensus $16.00 billion) will cross the wires at 15:00 ET.
Nasdaq Composite +11.1% YTD
S&P 500 +9.9% YTD Dow Jones Industrial Average +5.9% YTD Russell 2000 +0.7% YTD

4:09 pm First Solar BELECTRIC announced that they have broken ground on a new 46 megawatt utility-scale power plant, in Oxfordshire, Southern England (FSLR) : When completed, the facility will produce 45 million kilowatt-hours of clean solar electricity per year, sufficient to power approximately 14,000 average homes or approximately 25% of the estimated 55,400 households in the city of Oxford. The project is the fourth to be executed in the United Kingdom (UK) under a First Solar and BELECTRIC joint venture, announced in 2013

4:08 pm Diodes reports EPS in-line, revs in-line; guides Q4 revs in-line (DIOD) : Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $0.43 per share, excluding non-recurring items, in-line with the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.43; revenues rose 4.1% year/year to $233.8 mln vs the $234.2 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for Q4, sees Q4 revs of $217-231 mln vs. $230.43 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

"Growth was driven by continued strength in the consumer, communications and computing markets in Asia. Additionally, ongoing improvement in product mix and assembly/test capacity utilization contributed to gross margin reaching 32 percent for the first time since the second quarter of 2011. Earnings per share also reached the highest level in three years, demonstrating the Company's strong operating performance."

12:39 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

WFM (44.21 +10.55%): Reported Q4 earnings of $0.35 per share, $0.03 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.32, revenues rose 9.4% year/year to $3.26 bln vs the $3.26 bln consensus, raised quarterly dividend 8%; Tgt raised at Telsey, Oppenheimer, others.
TSLA (242.35 +4.93%): Beat Q3 consensus estimates by $0.02, beat on revs; lowered FY14 delivery guidance on production miss; guided Q4 EPS below consensus; Tgt raised at Northland.
HSIC (127.87 +4.63%): Reported Q3 results that beat consensus estimates by $0.03, beat on revs; guided FY14 EPS in-line; guided FY15 EPS in-line.

Large Cap Losers

QCOM (68.43 -11.36%): Missed Q4 consensus estimates by $0.06, missed on revs, guided Q1 below consensus, guided FY15 below consensus; Tgt lowered at Brean Capital, Cowen, RBC Capital Mkts, others.
CTL (39.13 -6.05%): Reported Q3 results that beat consensus estimates by $0.01, reported revs in-line; guided Q4 EPS below consensus, revs slightly below consensus.
PRU (84.6 -4.85%): Reported Q3 earnings of $2.20 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.21 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $2.41; revenues rose 9.1% year/year to $11.77 bln vs the $11.4 bln consensus.

Mid Cap Gainers

KATE (31.4 +19.57%): Reported Q3 results that missed consensus estimates by $0.02, revs in-line, increased FY14 direct to consumer comparable sales growth guidance to 19-21%.
KGC (2.25 +12.5%): Reported Q3 net of breakeven, $0.03 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.03; revenues rose 7.9% year/year to $945.7 mln vs the $839.98 mln consensus.
DATA (84.99 +11.1%): Beat Q3 consensus estimates by $0.12, beat on revs, sees Q4 $118-122 mln vs $113.73 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; Tgt raised at Mizuho, Cantor Fitzgerald, Pacific Crest, others.

Mid Cap Losers GNW (8.98 -36.18%): Reported Q3 loss of $1.70 per share, may not be comparable to the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.33; revenues rose 3.8% year/year to $2.4 bln vs the $2.4 bln consensus; Downgraded at Compass Point.NSM (28.37 -20.47%): Reported Q3 earnings of $0.80 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.31 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $1.11; revenues fell 8.1% year/year to $504.32 mln vs the $569.76 mln consensus.WIN (9.89 -5.73%): Missed Q3 consensus estimates by $0.01, reported revs in-line; reaffirmed guidance; sees REIT spin off in 1Q15.

11:40 am Stocks/ETFs that traded to new 52 week highs/lows this session - New highs (190) outpacing new lows (101) (:SCANX) : Stocks that traded to 52 week highs: AAC, ABAX, ACE, ADSK, AEC, AEE, AGN, AIRT, ALL, ALSN, AMT, ATO, AUXL, BBW, BC, BCR, BERY, BGCP, BHB, BHBK, BJRI, BOTJ, BR, BRK.A, BRKL, BUSE, CAG, CALX, CB, CDK, CLNY, CME, COO, CPN, CQB, CSH, CSL, CST, CTB, CUBE, CVS, DAL, DDR, DHR, DIN, DIS, DLTR, DPZ, DRE, DST, DV, ELS, ENSG, EQR, ERIE, EW, EXR, FDX, FTD, FTNT, FUR, GD, GEO, GNCMA, GPN, GSBC, HAS, HCC, HCSG, HDB, HDS, HKTV, HOLI, HRTG, HSIC, HSNI, HSP, HWKN, IBN, IDTI, IFN, IT, ITW, JCOM, JLL, JNJ, JOUT, JWN, KLAC, KW, LB, LEAF, LM, LNCE, LSTR, LUV, MDT, MMC, MMM, MRGE, MSFT, MTRN, MUSA, MYRG, NAVG, NCLH, NHC, NKE, NXPI, NXTM, OCR, ODP, ORLY, PAM, PAYX, PBH, PDM, PII, PLKI, PLL, PLNR, PLT, PLUS, PPO, PRE, PSA, PSEM, PTRY, PVTB, QTM, RCMT, RDNT, RFMD, RGCO, RHI, RJF, ROG, ROL, ROX, SAM, SANM, SBCF, SCS, SEE, SEIC, SHW, SIG, SMCI, SRE, SSS, STRA, STT, SWIR, SWKS, SWX, SYF, SYK, TARO, TEVA, THG, TJX, TQNT, TREE, TRV, TSRA, TTGT, TXN, TXT, UGI, UIL, UNH, UNP, UPS, VAL, VDSI, VFC, VRNT, VTR, WAB, WFC, WGL, WM, WMS, WOOF, WR, WRI, WU, XRAY, ZTS, ZUMZ

Stocks that traded to 52 week lows: AAU, AEZS, ALXA, AMZG, AREX, ATL, ATW, AWX, AXPW, BBG, BBVA, BCOR, BIOS, BPZ, BRDR, CHEF, CHLN, CHNR, CHOP, CHUY, CLR, CLRX, CSOD, CVO, CYNI, CYRN, DCTH, DDD, DNR, DRNA, DWSN, ENRJ, EPAX, FCX, FES, GFA, GNRC, GNW, GSS, GTU, IBM, IIJI, IMUC, IVAN, KNM, LF, LIQT, LRN, MCHX, MDGN, MDW, MEMP, MEP, MOSY, NCQ, NTLS, NWY, P, PANL, PCOM, PDII, PME, PPP, PTEN, PWE, PZG, QEPM, RFIL, RGDO, RNO, S, SAEX, SB, SC, SD, SFY, SID, SSE, SVLC, SVM, SZYM, TAOM, TAS, TCAP, TEAR, TESO, TEU, THRX, TRQ, TS, USMD, VALE, VGGL, WAC, WILC, WWWW, XIN, XOOM, XUE, YUMA, ZA

ETFs that traded to 52 week highs: DIA, DVY, IGV, IHI, IYG, IYK, IYR, IYT, QAI, RTH, SDY, SPY, URE, UUP, UYG, XLF, XLI, XLP
ETFs that traded to 52 week lows: BNO, BWX, FXB, FXE, FXF, FXY, PPLT, REMX, RSX, SGG, UHN

8:12 am American Superconductor beats by $0.02, beats on revs; guides Q3 EPS below consensus, revs below consensus (AMSC) : Reports Q2 (Sep) loss of $0.14 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.02 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of ($0.16); revenues fell 48.3% year/year to $12.5 mln vs the $11.97 mln consensus.

Co issues downside guidance for Q3, sees EPS of less than ($0.13) vs. ($0.10) Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q3 revs of $18-20 mln vs. $24.10 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

6:57 am Kulicke & Soffa misses by $0.06, beats on revs; guides Q1 revs below consensus (KLIC) : Reports Q4 (Sep) earnings of $0.38 per share, $0.06 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.44; revenues rose 12.2% year/year to $194.7 mln vs the $188.33 mln consensus.

Co issues downside guidance for Q1, sees Q1 revs of $90-100 mln vs. $112.73 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.