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From Briefing.com: It was a fairly quiet day in the equity market as participants kept their focus on the impending release of the February employment report on Friday.

Some M&A activity in the health care sector and the European Central Bank discussing plans for its quantitative easing program offered some distractions, but ultimately, there wasn't a lot of separation from where the indices started the day and where they ended it.

Gains for the major indices ranged from 0.1% to 0.3%.

The S&P 500 information technology sector (-0.1%) trailed the action, held back by some profit taking in Apple (AAPL 126.41, -2.13, -1.7%).

Notable new items from sector components were limited and included the following:

Apple (AAPL 126.33, -2.19, -1.7%): Bloomberg, citing people with knowledge of the matter, said Apple will delay the production of a 12.9-inch screen iPad until around September versus a prior plan to start production this quarter due to display panel supply issues

Avago Technologies (AVGO 130.58, +1.18, +0.9%): Increased quarterly interim dividend to $0.38/share from $0.35/share

CA Technologies (CA 31.95, +0.04, +0.1%): Announced it has entered an agreement with Tech Mahindra to develop and deploy end-to-end secured Internet of Things solutions for enterprise customers worldwide.

Facebook (FB 81.19, +0.30, +0.4%): Instagram confirms introduction of 'carousel ads'

Google (GOOG 575.22, +1.85, +0.3%): Marathon Patent Group announces its wholly-owned subsidiary TLI Communications GmbH has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Google in the Regional Court of Munich in Germany. TLI Communications is asserting infringement of the German part of European patent 0 814 611 B1 by the Internet services "YouTube" and "Google+" operated by the Defendant, as well as the associated application software for smartphones and tablet computers.

Salesforce.com (CRM 65.59, +0.71, +1.1%): Launched Salesforce Marketing Cloud Predictive Decisions. With Predictive Decisions, marketers can now harness the power of data science to analyze customer engagement and proactively deliver new recommended content, products or offers to customers, creating highly personalized journeys across channels at scale.

Western Union (WU 19.49, -0.16, -0.8%): Company and bpost, the leading postal services operator for Belgium, announced the expansion of their long-standing relationship under a renewed agreement.Elsewhere in the technology space:

Acxiom (ACXM 19.81, +0.23, +0.8%): Has expanded its global data partnership with Twitter (TWTR 47.35, -0.22, -0.3%) to augment Twitter's current targeting capabilities for advertising

Baidu (BIDU 214.16, +6.47, +3.0%): Company and Huawei sign memorandum of understanding to jointly develop indoor mobile internet

Ciena (CIEN 20.64, +0.04, +0.2%): Reported Q1 (Jan) earnings of $0.12 per share, excluding non-recurring items, which was ahead of analysts' average expectation. Revenues fell 0.8% year/year to $529.2 mln, which was below expectations. For Q2, sees revenues of $585-615 mln, in-line with estimates. FY15 revenue growth outlook lowered to +5% from +7-9% due to FX headwind (reaffirmed +7-9% ex-FX).

Maxwell Technologies (MXWL 7.66, +0.55, +7.7%): Filings indicate CEO bought 20K shares at $7.33 worth ~$146K

Semtech (SMTC 26.29, -3.00, -10.2%): Reported Q4 (Jan) earnings of $0.34 per share, excluding non-recurring items, which was ahead of analysts' average expectation. Revenues rose 3.1% year/year to $130.4 mln. For Q1, sees EPS of $0.27-0.30, excluding non-recurring items, and revenues of $130-136 mln, both of which are below estimates. Separately, the company said it has completed the acquisition of Triune Systems for ~$45 mln; deal expected to be slightly accretive for FY2016. Triune Systems is a privately-held supplier of wireless charging and power management platforms targeted at high and low power, high efficiency applications.

Sprint (S 5.38, +0.17, +3.4%): Filings indicate CFO bought 20K shares at $5.10 worth ~$102K

Unisys Corporation (UIS 23.34, -0.17, -0.7%): Announced that its Belgian subsidiary was awarded contracts in November 2014 under the ESP-DESIS III framework contract. This framework contract is the largest ever awarded by the European Commission. According to the European Commission, the total value of the three lots in which Unisys teams will be providing services is more than $900 million. The projected revenue for Unisys under the framework is estimated at around $100 million over the four year term.

Analyst Action:

Ambarella (AMBA 64.21, -3.28, -4.7%): upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Chardan Capital Markets; target raised to $60 from $40

STMicroelectronics (STM 9.31, +0.04, +0.4%): downgraded to Underweight from Neutral at HSBC Securities

4:10 pm : The stock market ended the Thursday session on a modestly higher note with the Nasdaq Composite (+0.3%) settling in the lead. The tech-heavy index is now up 0.4% week-to-date, while the S&P 500 (+0.1%) will enter the Friday session lower by 0.2% for the week.

In a way, today's session fit right in with recent affairs as equity indices maintained narrow ranges amid light volume. The S&P 500 spent the day inside a nine-point range while NYSE floor volume totaled fewer than 675 million shares (50-day average 766 million).

Six of ten sectors registered gains with three of four countercyclical groups ending ahead of the broader market. To that point, consumer staples (+0.3%), health care (+0.4%), and utilities (+0.8%) spent the day ahead of the broader market while telecom services (-0.1%) lagged.

Most notably, the health care sector was underpinned by biotechnology after AbbVie (ABBV 56.85, -3.42) agreed to acquire Pharmacyclics (PCYC 254.22, +23.74) for $261.25/share. Shares of PCYC jumped 10.3% while the broader iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 347.67, +7.58) advanced 2.2%, helping the Nasdaq finish in the lead.

However, the relative strength among biotech names masked a significant soft spot in the market. Specifically, the largest stock by weight-Apple (AAPL 126.39, -2.15)-lost 1.7%, which prevented equity indices from revisiting their morning highs. Meanwhile, the technology sector (-0.1%) held up relatively well despite Apple's weakness. Large cap names like IBM (IBM 161.18, +1.76) and Google (GOOGL 581.44, +3.10) gained 1.1% and 0.5%, respectively, while chipmakers also displayed relative strength with the PHLX Semiconductor Index adding 0.1%.

Similar to technology, growth-sensitive energy (-0.6%) and materials (-0.4%) settled in the red while the other cyclical sectors registered gains.

The energy sector finished at the bottom of today's leaderboard with crude oil contributing to the weakness. The energy component fell 1.5% to $50.76/bbl as dollar strength sent the Dollar Index (96.37, +0.40) to a fresh high for the year. The greenback rallied against the euro, dropping the euro/dollar pair to 1.1030 after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said the central bank will begin its QE program on March 9, buying negative-yielding bonds up to the deposit rate, which is currently at -0.2%.

On the flip side, the financial sector (+0.4%) ended among the leaders ahead of the 16:30 ET release of the Fed's stress test. The Federal Reserve will announce capital levels of 31 major banks this evening while next Wednesday evening will feature the release of complete results. Bank of America (BAC 16.00, +0.16) led the majors with a 1.0% gain.

Treasuries spent some time on either side of their flat lines before ending with slim gains, sending the 10-yr yield lower by a basis point to 2.11%.

Economic data included jobless claims, productivity/labor cost data, and factory orders:

The initial claims level increased to 320,000 from an unrevised 313,000 while the Briefing.com consensus expected a decline to 295,000
The reading marked the highest level of initial claims since May 2014 when it reached 327,000
The Department of Labor reported that no special factors impacted this week's claims reading
The continuing claims level increased to 2.421 million from an upwardly revised 2.404 million (from 2.401 million)
Nonfarm business productivity for Q4 2014 was revised down to -2.2% from an originally reported -1.8% while the Briefing.com consensus expected a revision down to -2.3%
Annual productivity in 2014 was 0.7%, which was the smallest annual gain since increasing only 0.2% in 2011
Unit labor costs were revised up to 4.1% from 2.7% while the consensus expected a revision up to 2.9%
Factory orders declined 0.2% in January after declining 3.5% in December while the Briefing.com consensus expected an increase of 0.6%
Almost the entire decline can be attributed to low oil prices as petroleum refinery orders declined 11.6% in January after declining 15.8% in December. Excluding petroleum, factory orders increased a solid 1.1% in January

Tomorrow, the Nonfarm Payrolls report for February (Briefing.com consensus 240K) and the January Trade Balance (consensus -$42.00 billion) will be released at 8:30 ET while the Consumer Credit report for January (expected $14.00 billion) will cross the wires at 15:00 ET.

Nasdaq Composite +5.2% YTD
Russell 2000 +2.5% YTD
S&P 500 +2.1% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average +1.8% YTD

DJ30 +38.82 NASDAQ +15.67 SP500 +2.51 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1579/1.61 bln/1173 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1675/671.7 mln/1377 3:35 pm :

WTI crude oil futures couldn't hold today's gains and slide lower in afternoon activity
Apr crude ultimately closed $0.74 lower at $50.76/barrel.
Apr nat gas, on the other hand, rose $0.07 to close at $2.84/MMBtu
Gold and silver futures hit today's lows in afternoon trade
Apr gold ended $5.00 lower at $1196.20/oz, while May silver lost $0.01 to $16.16/oz
Mar copper shed $0.01 to $2.65/lb

Large Cap Gainers

PCYC (254.63 +10.48%): To be acquired by AbbVie (ABBV) for $21 bln, or $261.25 per share.
KR (73.48 +5.5%): Beat Q4 consensus EPS estimates by $0.14, reported revs in-line; guided FY16 EPS above consensus.
MAC (88.54 +5.66%): Reports out suggesting the company may be a takeover target by Simon Property Group (SPG).

Large Cap Losers

ABBV (57.7 -4.26%): Announced the acquisition of Pharmacyclics (PCYC); expects the transaction to be highly accretive to both revenue and earnings by 2017; lowered its FY15 EPS guidance to account for dilution from deal.
MOS (50.16 -3.35%): Potash names lower following disappointing earnings from Russia's Uralkali (URALL) (POT also lower).
AR (37.59 -2.24%): Announced the upsizing of its public offering of common stock of 13.1 mln shares; expects gross proceeds of ~$485 mln.

Mid Cap Gainers

GLNG (32.5 +10.13%): Entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Rosneft Oil Company (OJSCY) that foresees cooperation between the companies in the area of floating liquefaction and transportation of natural gas.
MR (30.69 +9.53%): Strength attributed to M&A speculation.
SCTY (51.49 +2.88%): Piece out suggesting MLP structures would benefit solar companies like SolarCity.

Mid Cap Losers

GEF (37.87 -13.26%): Missed Q1 consensus EPS estimates by $0.08, missed on revs; reaffirmed FY15 EPS in-line.
MOMO (10.94 -12.83%): Missed Q4 consensus estimates by $0.12, beat on revs; sees Q1 revs in-line.
ERJ (32.2 -7.74%): Reported Q4 (Dec) results, missed on revs; guided FY15 revs below consensus; Price target lowered to $36 at UBS.

12:00 pm Stocks/ETFs that traded to new 52 week highs/lows this session - New highs (158) outpacing new lows (69) (:SCANX) : Stocks that traded to 52 week highs: ABCD, ACAD, ACN, ACT, ADMP, AEO, AET, AFFX, AGN, AJX, ALKS, ALN, ALNY, AMAG, AMPH, ANAC, ANTH, APH, ARRY, AVGO, BAM, BBC, BBP, BDX, BFIN, BIB, BIIB, BIO, BLRX, BLUE, BMRN, BMY, BSQR, BT, BURL, BX, BZM, CBPO, CEMP, CFI, CFN, CHEV, CHFN, CI, CLDN, CLDX, CMCSK, CNC, CODE, COLM, CPIX, CPRX, CRL, CRMD, CRUS, CSV, CSWC, DCM, DEA, DEG, DEPO, DVAX, DXGE, DY, ECOL, ESE, FCB, FLXN, FNRG, FRC, FSL, FV, GB, GHC, GLOB, GTT, GWB, GY, HAIN, HASI, HBI, HLT, HPI, HRTG, HSKA, HSP, IBB, IBP, ICLN, IDCC, IGTE, IIF, INCY, INN, INT, INTL, JCOM, JEQ, JOUT, JTP, JTPY, KR, KYO, LAMR, LII, LLNW, LPSB, LVLT, MACK, MDVN, MEI, MFLX, MKTX, MLR, MNK, MRTX, MXIM, NBIX, NCLH, NLNK, NSAM, NSP, NVDA, NXPI, OLN, OMER, PAM, PCYC, PRXL, PSO, PTX, PUK, QLYS, QURE, RCPT, RHP, RRD, SBFG, SIEN, ST, SWKS, SYNT, TGS, TREX, TSQ, TSRO, TWC, UEPS, USCR, USPH, VMC, VRX, WBB, WETF, WWAV, XL, XPO, ZIOP

Stocks that traded to 52 week lows: AGYS, AHGP, ALIM, AMZG, ANF, BIS, BOCH, BONT, CACQ, CECE, CHK, CTG, DAR, DV, DXM, EAC, EBR, EGI, ELRC, ENOC, ERJ, FENG, FIVE, FPP, FSTR, GEF.B, GES, GLF, GLOW, GNI, GOMO, GRVY, GSOL, HLX, HSBC, I, IGOV, IRET, JOY, KBSF, KEYW, KOF, LTBR, MERU, MNI, NAO, NATR, OPWR, PERF, PGN, PHIIK, PRXI, PSMT, RAVN, RUSHA, SCON, SGF, SIF, STRL, STRS, TDW, TRC, TSU, UG, VALE, VALE.P, VNCE, WTW, XRA

ETFs that traded to 52 week highs: IBB, IYH, PSK, UUP, XBI, XLV

ETFs that traded to 52 week lows: BWX, FXE, JJA

8:08 am Avago Tech increases quarterly interim dividend to $0.38/share from $0.35/share (AVGO) :

6:36 am Methode Electronics beats by $0.18, misses on revs; raises FY15 EPS above consensus, reaffirms FY15 revs guidance (MEI) : Reports Q3 (Jan) earnings of $0.68 per share, $0.18 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.50; revenues rose 8.5% year/year to $206 mln vs the $209.71 mln consensus.

Co issues guidance for FY15, sees EPS of $2.50-2.60 from $2.20-2.30 vs. $2.27 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; reaffirms FY15 revs of $870-885 mln vs. $884.12 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate. Consolidated gross margins as a percentage of sales improved to 25.5 percent in the Fiscal 2015 first nine months compared to 20.8 percent in the Fiscal 2014 period.

6:29 am Canadian Solar misses by $0.06, reports revs in-line; guides Q1 and FY15 (CSIQ) : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $1.28 per share, $0.06 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $1.34; revenues rose 84% year/year to $956.2 mln vs the $953.94 mln consensus.

Total solar module shipments in the fourth quarter of 2014 were 1,125 MW, with 897 MW recognized in revenue, compared to 770 MW recognized in the third quarter of 2014 and 621 MW in the fourth quarter of 2013. Co issues guidance for Q1, sees Q1 revs of $725-775 vs. $713.18 mln Capital IQ Consensus. Expects Q1 total module shipments to be in the range of ~1,000 MW to 1,030MW, including ~55 MW of shipments to the Company's utility-scale solar projects that will not be recognized into first quarter 2015 revenue. Co issues guidance for FY15, sees FY15 revs of $2.8-3.0 bln vs. $3.44 bln Capital IQ Consensus; Absent the planned change in the Company's energy business model from a build-to-sell to a build and operate model, revenue for 2015 would be ~$1.0 billion to $1.1 billion higher.Sees total module shipments to be in the range of ~4.0 GW to 4.3 GW, including 3,300MW to 3,500 MW of third-party module sales, 235 MW to 275 WW of project and EPC sales, and 460 MW to 490 MW of shipments to projects which will be held on the balance sheet pending the launch of a YieldCo vehicle. At the end of February of 2015, the Company had a pipeline of late -stage, utility-scale solar projects totaling ~1.4 GW DC. Canadian Solar's late-stage, utility-scale solar project pipeline is expected to increase by ~1.0 GW DC to 2.4GW DC with the Recurrent acquisition.