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From Briefing.com: Weekly Recap - Week ending 13-Mar-15Dow -145.91 at 17749.31, Nasdaq -21.53 at 4871.76, S&P -12.55 at 2053.4

The stock market finished the week on a defensive note with the S&P 500 (-0.6%) returning below its 50-day moving average (2,059). The benchmark index settled ahead of the Dow Jones Industrial Average (-0.8%), but behind the Nasdaq Composite (-0.4%).

Equity indices began the day with modest losses and spent the first two hours of action in a steady slide that involved all ten sectors. The S&P 500 hovered near its morning low into the afternoon, but was able to rally into the middle of its trading range during the final 90 minutes of the day.

Once again, the early pressure was largely due to continued greenback strength that sent the Dollar Index (100.22, +0.78) higher by 0.8% to extend its March advance to 5.1%. The unyielding strength fed concerns about the impact to earnings of multinational companies while also pressuring crude oil. The energy component fell 4.7% to $44.89/bbl and notched its low after the Baker Hughes rig count fell to 1125 (-67), registering its 14th consecutive weekly decline.

For the week, WTI crude lost 9.1% while the energy sector (-0.5%) fell 2.8%, ending the week well behind the remaining groups. Today, however, the sector finished ahead of the broader market thanks to a late rally amid speculation ExxonMobil (XOM 83.87, -0.35) may be interested in Whiting Petroleum (WLL 40.00, +1.64). Meanwhile, the materials sector (-1.0%) was the weakest performer on the cyclical side as steelmakers weighed with Market Vectors Steel ETF (SLX 30.97, -0.72) falling 2.3%.

Elsewhere, the technology sector (-0.5%) stayed ahead of the broader market thanks to relative strength among chipmakers. The PHLX Semiconductor Index gained 0.7% with NXP Semiconductor (NXPI 104.66, +6.09) jumping 6.2% after Needham initiated coverage of the stock with a 'Strong Buy' rating. As for large cap names, Intel (INTC 30.93, +0.13), Microsoft (MSFT 41.38, +0.36) and Oracle (ORCL 42.38, +0.76) finished in the green while other major tech components registered losses.

The Nasdaq settled a little ahead of the broader market thanks to those pockets of strength while biotechnology names also contributed to the outperformance. The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 345.33, +0.50) added 0.1% after being up more than 1.0% this morning. On a related note, the health care sector (-0.2%) finished ahead of the remaining groups.

Treasuries ended flat after showing intraday gains with the 10-yr yield settling at 2.12%.

Today's participation was a bit light with fewer than 790 million shares changing hands at the NYSE floor.

Economic data included PPI and Michigan Sentiment:

Producer prices declined 0.5% in February after declining 0.8% in January while the Briefing.com Consensus expected an increase of 0.3%
The drop in producer prices was a shock. Most analysts expected a rise in energy prices would offset any weaknesses from other sectors, but that did not happen
Energy prices were flat in February after declining 10.3% in January
Food prices declined 1.6% in February after declining 1.1% in January, which was the third consecutive monthly decline in food prices. Most of the drop resulted from a 17.1% decline in fresh and dry vegetable prices
Excluding food and energy, core PPI also declined 0.5% in February after declining 0.1% in January while the consensus expected an increase of 0.1%
The University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index dropped to 91.2 in the preliminary March reading from 95.4 while the Briefing.com consensus expected an increase to 95.8
Slightly higher gasoline prices and a volatile equity market offset continued strengthening in the labor market

On Monday, the Empire Manufacturing report for March will be released at 8:30 ET while February Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization will be announced at 9:15 ET. The day's data will be topped off with the 10:00 ET release of NAHB Housing Market Index for March.

Index Started Week Ended Week Change % Change YTD %
DJIA 17856.78 17749.31 -107.47 -0.6 -0.4
Nasdaq 4927.37 4871.76 -55.61 -1.1 2.9
S&P 500 2071.26 2053.40 -17.86 -0.9 -0.3
Russell 2000 1217.52 1232.14 14.62 1.2 2.3

Strong dollar woes continued to weigh on U.S equities on Friday with the Dollar index gaining nearly 1% on the day. All major indices spent the day in the red, but managed to muster a decent rally into the close. paring back at least some of the day's losses.

The S&P technology sector (-0.5%) performed much like the rest of the market, though it slightly outperformed the S&P 500 (-0.6%). News in the space was sparse, with only a few stories notable enough to cause significant price action. While news in the sector was thin, there were still several significant gainers and losers in the space.

The following stocks were top performers in the sector: Micron Technology (MU 28.72, +0.70, +2.5%), Applied Materials (AMAT 24.24, +0.47, +2%), Oracle (ORCL 42.38, +0.76, 1.8%), Lam Research (LRCX 78.71, +0.99, +1.3%), and Intuit (INTU 97.77, +1.10, +1.1%)

The worst performers in the sector were: IBM (IBM 154.28, -3.70, -2.3%), Visa (V 265.03, -4.55, -1.7%), Mastercard (MA 87.75, -1.50, -1.7%), NetApp (NTAP 36.82, -0.59, -1.6%), and Symantec (SYMC 23.36, -0.36, -1.5%).

Notable news items from sector components included:

Oracle (ORCL 42.38, +0.76, +1.8%): Announced that Oracle Social Cloud's Social Relationship Management platform now supports Instagram (Facebook FB 78.05, -0.88, -1.1%) and Weibo (WB 14.18, -0.69, -4.6%)

Seagate Technology (STX 53.76, -0.78, -1.4%): Announced that its Nytro family of PCIe-based flash acceleration cards -the XP6209-has been selected by China's foremost Infrastructure-as-a-Service provider QingCloud to enhance the performance and capabilities of its cutting-edge cloud service.

Texas Instruments (TXN 57.12, -0.11, -0.2%): Introduced the industry's first 80-V, 10-A integrated gallium nitride field-effect transistor power-stage prototype, which consists of a high-frequency driver and two GaN FETs in a half-bridge configuration -- all in an easy-to-design quad flat no-leads package
Elsewhere in the technology space:

Loral (LORL 69.40, -2.89, -4%): Disclosed that after further discussions between Loral Space & Communications and the high bidder in the previously disclosed strategic process, the co and the high bidder have been unable to overcome the gap posed primarily by the currency exchange fluctuations, and the discussions have now concluded.

Violin Memory (VMEM 3.53, +0.37, +11.7%): President and Directors (4) disclose the purchase of 180K shares at $3.08-3.18 worth $562K.

LiveDeal (LIVE 2.90, -0.04, -1.4%): Announced that it has enhanced its proprietary software to anticipate demand for higher-profit items, and initiate its in-house manufacturing capabilities to meet demand and increase revenue growth. The proprietary software, which was developed by LiveDeal subsidiary, Modern Everyday, tracks consumer behavior and can help the Company predict where increased demand will emerge.

TiVo (TIVO 10.64, -0.15, -1.4%): Announced acquisition of Aereo Assets; receives approval from bankruptcy judge to complete the deal, details not disclosed

Ultimate Software (ULTI 167.13, +0.41, +0.3%): Announced that Human Arc will adopt the company's Ultipro offering for HCM and payroll functions

Ebix (EBIX 29.55, +3.94): Reported Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.45 per share, $0.06 better than the Capital IQ single analyst estimate of $0.39; revenues rose 19.3% year/year to $60.6 mln vs the $52.85 mln single analyst estimate.
Analyst Action:

Intel (INTC 30.93, +0.13, +0.4%): upgraded to Buy from Hold at Canaccord Genuity; target lowered to $38 from $40... upgraded to Underperform from Sell at Credit Agricole... price target lowered to $38 from $42 at Deutsche Bank; Buy... price target lowered to $40 from $42 at FBR Capital; Outperform... price target lowered to $48 from $50 at Jefferies; Buy

Cognizant Tech (CTSH 61.15, -0.51, -0.8%): upgraded to Buy from Hold at Berenberg

eBay (EBAY 59.07, -0.34, -0.6%): price target raised to $75 from $59 at Susquehanna; Positive

Broadcom (BRCM 44.27, -0.45, -1%): downgraded to Hold from Buy at Canaccord Genuity; target lowered to $47 from $50

Cisco Systems (CSCO 27.94, -0.30, -1.1%): target raised to $32 from $30.50 at UBS; Buy

Apple (AAPL 123.59, -0.86, -0.7%): target raised to $85 from $60 at Berenberg; Sell

5:01 pm SMTC Corp postpones the timing of its fourth quarter and fiscal year 2014 earnings release and conference call to allow for more time to finalize its year-end financial results (SMTX) : At the current time, the earnings release is expected to be issued by March 30, 2015.

4:59 pm This week's biggest % gainers/losers (:SCANX) : The following are this week's top 20 percentage gainers and top 20 percentage losers, categorized by sectors (over $300 mln market cap and 100K average daily volume).

This week's top 20 % gainers

Healthcare:AMRN (2.9 +62.92%),LBIO (13.12 +45.78%),AMPE (7.98 +35.71%),RGEN (31.31 +24.89%),GERN (4.34 +24%),EGRX (46.09 +22.48%),AAVL (43.24 +20.24%),SUPN (11.77 +20.22%),HPTX (35.12 +19.33%),ANAC (55.66 +17.97%)

Materials:RTI (37.79 +38.53%),PLM (1.33 +19.82%)

Consumer Discretionary:PNK (34.39 +25.42%),TWOU (21.46 +20.97%),EXPR (16.24 +17.43%)

Information Technology:GCA (8.33 +17.66%)

Financials:ITG (27.91 +24.04%),ONDK (19.41 +19.37%)

Energy:TGS (5.48 +26.56%),WLL (40 +17.54%)

This week's top 20 % losers

Healthcare:ACRX (4.06 -53.6%),CUR (2.56 -32.45%),CTIC (1.97 -25.66%)

Materials:BAK (6.74 -21.45%),CLF (4.94 -21.21%)

Industrials:NNBR (20.95 -19.79%),CVEO (2.92 -19.78%),BLT (13.41 -19.12%)

Consumer Discretionary:ARO (3.06 -24.26%),VRA (15.25 -20.03%),WBAI (11.6 -20%),ARCO (4.23 -18.5%)

Information Technology:BITA (47.6 -28.96%),CMTL (27.54 -19%)

Energy:EXXI (3.05 -24.69%),BAS (5.91 -22.85%),CLD (5.88 -19.34%),PWE (1.42 -18.86%),PES (4.63 -18.77%),XCO (1.54 -18.52%)

3:30 pm Earnings Preview for the week of March 16 - 20 (:SUMRX) : Of the companies reporting earnings for the week of March 16 - 20 some of the bigger names include:

Monday: Pre Market - RDNT, STRL, TSQ, UCP, PGNX, PFNX

After Hours - ANW, HELI, PRSC, JMEI, DCO, NES, MCP, QUNR, BDE, NOAH, BOOM, CALL, EGY, FTEK, XONE, CUI, FXEN, OMER

Tuesday: Pre Market - BURL, ARCO, RYI, ZBRA, DSW, FDS, RSPP, PLUG, IOC

After Hours - ORCL, ADBE, RATE, FRSH, CDNA, MCUR

Wednesday: Pre Market - FDX, GIS, ATU, EJ, EVLV, LEJU

After Hours - JBL, WSM, CTAS, SFS, GES, MLHR, CLC, SCVL, TLYS, SLW, GOMO, KTWO, QEPM, RENN, JUNO

Thursday: Pre Market - TECD, MIK, LEN, DANG, CATO, MCS, VNCE, TNP, CRCM

After Hours - NKE, MFRM, ZQK, CTRP, NWY, INGN, RALY, EXA, VCYT, VTL, ZFGN

Friday: Pre Market - DRI, TIF, CMCM, KBH

5:01 pm SMTC Corp postpones the timing of its fourth quarter and fiscal year 2014 earnings release and conference call to allow for more time to finalize its year-end financial results (SMTX) : At the current time, the earnings release is expected to be issued by March 30, 2015.
12:23 pm Stocks/ETFs that traded to new 52 week highs/lows this session - New lows (177) outpacing new highs (148) (:SCANX) : Stocks that traded to 52 week highs: ABC, ACHC, AEO, AET, AFAM, AFFX, AGN, AIR, ALGT, ALR, AMAG, AMPH, AMRN, AMSG, ANAC, ANTM, ASPX, ATRO, BBC, BBP, BHV, BIB, BMRN, BMY, BRP, BURL, CACC, CBF, CBM, CEMP, CEVA, CFI, CGNX, CHDN, CI, CLDN, CNC, CONE, CRL, CSBK, CSFL, CVGW, CY, DEPO, DG, DGX, DLTR, DSPG, DVA, DVAX, DXGE, DYAX, EBIX, EBSB, EGBN, EGRX, EIG, ESPR, ETFC, FCAU, FCS, FDP, FIX, FRME, FSL, GERN, GHC, GTN, GTN.A, GY, HALO, HBI, HCC, HCHC, HIG, HMHC, HPTX, HTLF, IBB, IBP, IMKTA, INFN, INS, INSY, INTL, IPGP, IPXL, IRS, ISLE, ITG, JBLU, JEQ, KAI, KR, KYO, LBIO, LCI, LLNW, MAC, MD, MDVN, MNK, MSBF, MSO, MTN, MYRG, NCLH, NEWT, NSP, NXPI, OLED, ONCE, PAM, PBH, PBIP, PNFP, PNK, PRXL, PTCT, QADA, QADB, RDI, RGEN, RHP, RLI, SAGE, SFNC, SIGI, SIXD, SRDX, SSP, SUPN, SWKS, SWM, SYNT, TA, TGT, TSRO, TWOU, UAM, ULTA, USPH, VLGEA, WAL, WBS, WSM, XPO, ZFGN

Stocks that traded to 52 week lows: ABEV, ADRE, AMCF, AMIC, ANAT, ATLS, ATNM, AXPW, BAK, BBD, BBDO, BCA, BICK, BIS, BSBR, BTG, BTU, CAT, CBD, CEL, CHK, CIG, CIG.C, CLD, CLF, CNNX, CNP, CNX, COP, CPL, CTIC, CUO, CUR, DAR, DBVT, DEST, DO, DPG, DPM, DRQ, EBR, EBR.B, ECA, EDD, EEML, EGI, ELP, EMIF, EMR, ENBL, ENOC, ERJ, ESV, FCO, FHCO, FOSL, FTGC, GALE, GCO, GEOS, GFA, GLF, GOL, GRAM, GULTU, HELI, HERO, HLX, HOLI, HSBC, HWCC, I, IGOV, IHD, IMO, IPI, ISHG, ITEK, ITUB, JMT, KBR, KYE, LAQ, LAYN, LDF,LEJU, LFL, LITB, LOCM, LODE, LOR, LXK, MDM, MDU, MDW, MHGC, MPO, MSM, NAO, NDRO, NE, NFG, NGG, NGLS, NOA, NOV, NRG, NRP, NTG, NTP, OESX, OGE, PBR, PBR.A, PDI, PGN, PHII, PHIIK, PLTM, PLX, PM, PRGN, PTNR, PWE, RDC, RDS.A, RDS.B, REN, RIG, RNET, ROYL, RRC, RYAM, RYI, SBLK, SDLP, SDRL, SEED, SFUN, SHG, SHOS, SIFY, SINA, SJR, SJT, SRV, SSL, SVBL, SXCP, TCPI, TDW, TENX, TGD, TICC, TKF, TLP, TMST, TOT, TRP, TSU, TTF, UG, UNT, UPLD, UUUU, VALE, VALE.P, VBLT, VNCE, WILN, WIN, WLT, WYNN, XCO, XOM, YOKU, YY

ETFs that traded to 52 week highs: IBB, IHF, UUP, XBI, XRT

ETFs that traded to 52 week lows: BWX, DBA, DJP, EPOL, EWS, EWZ, FUD, FXB, FXC, FXE, FXY, ILF, JJA, KOL, RJA, SGG, USCI, XME