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From Briefing.com: The stock market made an early effort to extend last week's gains, yet the buying interest soon petered out on profit-taking efforts. Additionally, there was some buyer hesitation on the understanding that the first quarter earnings reporting period will kick into full swing this week alongside some influential economic data that includes the Retail Sales, Producer Price Index, Housing Starts, Industrial Production, and Consumer Price Index reports for March.

The only sector to manage a gain on Monday was the financial sector (+0.3%), which will be in the spotlight Tuesday following earnings reports from JPMorgan Chase (JPM 62.07, +0.37, +0.6%) and Wells Fargo (WFC 54.59, +0.27, +0.5%).

The S&P 500 information technology sector (-0.3%) faded as the day progressed and finished near its lows for the session. Even so, it still managed to outperform the S&P 500, which fell 0.5%. Relative strength in Hewlett-Packard (HPQ 32.73, +0.62, +1.9%) and Facebook (FB 83.05, +1.01, +1.2%) lent a measure of support.

Intel (INTC 31.76, -0.17, -0.5%) and Linear Technology (LLTC 46.01, -0.49, -1.0%) will report their results after Tuesday's close.

Notable news items from sector components included the following:

Accenture (ACN 93.53, -1.16, -1.2%): UniCredit has signed a three-year contract with Accenture, under which Accenture will provide a wide range of services to UniCredit's IT organization in Italy, Germany, Austria and the United Kingdom.

Altera Corporation (ALTR 43.86, -0.66, -1.5%): Announced the company has joined the Industrial Internet Consortium, a collaborative industry organization facilitating development of a global ecosystem for the Internet of Things (IoT).

Automatic Data Processing (ADP 85.90, -0.44, -0.5%): Announced the launch of AdvancedMD Marketplace, which offers private practices a broad array of innovative products and services that operate seamlessly with the ADP AdvancedMD practice management and EHR product suite.

Broadcom (BRCM 44.58, +0.35, +0.8%): Traded higher amid speculation that it could be an acquisition target for Intel (INTC 31.76, -0.17, -0.5%).

Harris Corporation (HRS 80.35, -0.65, -0.8%): Received $27 million in orders from the U.S. Special Operations Command for Falcon III manpack and handheld tactical radios.

Microsoft (MSFT 41.76, +0.04, +0.1%): Announced their collaboration to bring innovative operational excellence to manufacturing with the help of Fujitsu devices powered by Windows 8.1 Pro, the Internet of Things services of FUJITSU Cloud A5 for Microsoft Azure, and the Fujitsu IoT/M2M (machine-to-machine) platform.

Qualcomm (QCOM 68.73, -0.43, -0.6%): Media reports indicated that Jana Partners wants Qualcomm to consider a breakup of the company. Qualcomm responded to statements made by JANA Partners, saying, "Prior reviews have concluded that the synergies provided by our business model create more value for stockholders than could be created through alternative corporate structures. We will continue to evaluate opportunities to enhance stockholder value and are committed to pursuing the right course of action for all of our stockholders."

Symantec Corp. (SYMC 24.15, -1.43, -5.6%): Announced the expansion of Incident Response Services into several new markets. As of April, Symantec's Incident Response Emergency Response service is available globally, and Symantec's Incident Response Retainer Services are available in North America, the UK and select Asia-Pacific regions.

Elsewhere in the technology space:

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD 2.77, +0.01, +0.4%): Announced certification for Avid Media Composer 8.4 to support broadcast and digital content creation customers for successful HD and 4K workflows powered by AMD FirePro professional graphics, both for Microsoft Windows and the Mac Pro workstations.
Alcatel-Lucent (ALU 4.35, +0.31, +8.3%): Citing people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reported that
Nokia (NOK 8.31, +0.25, +3.1%) might announce an agreement soon to purchase Alcatel's wireless assets. Those same sources said a full takeover of Alcatel Lucent has been examined, but that the asset sale was the most likely scenario.

Ambarella (AMBA 75.21, -0.59, -0.6%): Announced availability of the S2Lm-based battery-powered IP camera reference design

Brocade (BRCD 12.20, -0.01, -0.3%): Announced that CoxHealth has selected Brocade networking equipment and services to provide its five hospitals and 83 clinics with IT network infrastructure Ericsson (ERIC 12.95, +0.09, +0.7%): Has been selected to provide the online video platform to the over-the-top and live TV subscription video-on-demand service, currently being developed by Bonnier Broadcasting, a business area within the Bonnier Group.

Groupon (GRPN 7.24, -0.14, -1.9%): A Bloomberg report appearing in Crain's Chicago Business highlighted the view of Piper Jaffray analyst who said Groupon's market value, currently about $5 billion, should be closer to $6 billion.

Maxim Integrated Products, Inc. (MXIM 35.08, -0.08, -0.1%): Announced the availability of a platform that aims to allow manufacturers to bring IO-Link factory automation designs to market
Semtech Corporation (SMTC 26.28, -0.18, -0.7%): Announced the addition of five new products as part of its new multi-rate UHD-SDI platform strategy
SINA (SINA 35.40, -2.11, -5.7%): Weakness attributed to reports that China is considering shutdown of SINA news service if censorship doesn't improve.

Worldwide semiconductor foundry market grew 16.1 percent in 2014, according to final results by Gartner. Among the top players, the leader, TSMC (TSM 23.33, -0.17, -0.8%), gained market share to reach 53.7 percent, up from 49.8 percent in 2013

Analyst Action:
ADTRAN (ADTN 18.67, -0.36, -1.8%): target lowered to $18.50 from $24 at MKM Partners; Neutral
Intuit (INTU 97.93, -0.96, -0.9%): upgraded to Hold from Sell at Evercore ISI; target to $98 from $77

Netflix (NFLX 474.69, +20.12, +4.5%): Upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS, target raised to $565 from $370

Western Digital (WDC 95.53, -0.36, -0.3%): added to Jefferies Research Franchise Pick List; Buy
4:10 pm : The stock market ended Wednesday on a higher note, but not before making a couple appearances in the red. The S&P 500 added a modest 0.3% while the Nasdaq Composite (+0.8%) outperformed.

Equity indices climbed out of the gate with the Nasdaq receiving major support from biotechnology. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 notched its session high during the initial 30 minutes, but returned to its flat line shortly thereafter amid significant weakness in the energy sector (-1.0%).

The growth-sensitive energy space was pressured by a tailspin in crude oil futures after latest data from the American Petroleum Institute revealed that crude inventories increased by 10.9 million barrels since last week. As a result, total inventories have reached levels not seen at this time of the year in at least 80 years. WTI crude fell 6.5% to $50.44/bbl, erasing its Tuesday advance, and cutting into its gain from Monday.

Unlike energy, most of the remaining cyclical sectors ended near their flat lines while the consumer discretionary sector (+0.9%) outperformed after showing relative weakness yesterday. Today, however, the group enjoyed broad support, including relative strength among homebuilders. The iShares Dow Jones US Home Construction ETF (ITB 28.41, +0.40) climbed 1.4%.

Elsewhere, the health care sector (+0.9%) also displayed strength throughout the day, which was largely due to biotechnology. The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 352.01, +10.09) outperformed from the get-go and extended its gain after Mylan (MYL 68.36, +8.79) announced a proposal to acquire Perrigo (PRGO 195.00, +30.29) for $205/share. The news sent shares of PRGO higher by 18.4% while the biotech ETF advanced 3.0% and kept the Nasdaq in the lead.

Similar to biotechnology, the high-beta chipmaker space contributed to Nasdaq's strength with the PHLX Semiconductor Index advancing 0.7%. However, the technology sector (+0.2%) ended a bit behind the broader market following mixed action in large cap names. Google (GOOGL 548.84, +3.98) added 0.7% while Apple (AAPL 125.60, -0.41) lost 0.3% after Societe Generale downgraded the stock to 'Hold' from 'Buy.'

Treasuries ended the day on a modestly lower note with the 10-yr yield rising one basis point to 1.90%. The benchmark yield saw little reaction to the afternoon release of FOMC minutes that provided little clarity regarding the timing of the first rate hike.

According to the minutes, FOMC members were split over whether June would be the right time to begin raising rates. Several members believed that recent data and the outlook warranted a rate hike in June while others voiced concerns that the economic outlook would not be strong enough to support a rate hike in the near term.

The dollar was also discussed in the minutes with participants acknowledging that net exports would be hampered by the strong greenback. In addition, a few members voiced their belief that the dovish tone emanating from global central banks could lead to additional dollar strength.

Fittingly, the Dollar Index (98.02, +0.19) erased its intraday loss in reaction to the minutes, adding 0.2% for the day.

Today's participation was close to recent averages with roughly 750 million shares changing hands at the NYSE floor.

Economic data reported this morning was limited to the weekly MBA Mortgage Index, which ticked up 0.4% to follow last week's 4.6% increase.

Tomorrow, weekly Initial Claims (Briefing.com consensus 285K) will be released at 8:30 ET while the Wholesale Inventories report for February will cross at 10:00 ET (expected 0.2%).


Russell 2000 +4.9% YTD
Nasdaq Composite +4.5% YTD
S&P 500 +1.1% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average +0.5% YTD

DJ30 +27.09 NASDAQ +40.59 SP500 +5.57 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1814/1.56 bln/1004 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1864/747.6 mln/1170
3:35 pm :

Crude oil continued to hold its losses today, which began after the API reported bearish oil storage late yesterday
Overall, WTI crude fell over $3 since the API released its weekly storage data to below $50.50/barrel in recent trade
May crude finished the day $-3.52 lower at $50.44/barrel
In other energy, May nat gas lost $0.06 to $2.62/MMBtu
Metals lost ground as well with gold, silver and copper all posting modest losses
June gold fell $7.30 in pit trading today to $1203.30/oz, while May silver declined $0.37 to $16.47/oz
May copper closed $0.03 lower to $2.73/lb.

1:08 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

NFLX (481.41 +5.90%): Upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS, target raised to $565 from $370 at UBS; mentioned positively at MKM Partners; co scheduled to report Q1 results after the close on April 15
PBR (8.2 +5.81%): Bloomberg reporting that co may divest assets to fund expenditures and debt payments
HST (20.32 +1.96%): Upgraded to Buy from Hold at Evercore ISI

Large Cap Losers

SYMC (24.37 -4.73%): Reversal in cyber security companies following gains seen in anticipation of a 60 Minutes report on the industry
BHP (44.1 -3.75%): Downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Citigroup; placed on CreditWatch with negative implications by S&P
GE (27.71 -2.82%): Mentioned cautiously in Barron's article; pullback following strong gains seen Friday on news that co plans to sell its GE Capital Real Estate assets for ~$26.5 bln

Mid Cap Gainers

CLVS (88.23 +13.99%): Upgraded to Buy from Neutral at Goldman
JBLU (20.09 +5.49%): Reproted March traffic increased 9.2% from the prior year; technical strength
CCJ (15.68 +3.09%): Upgraded to Buy from Neutral at BofA/Merrill

Mid Cap Losers

SINA (35.36 -5.73%): Weakness attributed to reports that China is considering a shutdown of co's news service if censorship does not improve
TCK (13.25 -3.64%): Downgraded to Neutral from Buy at UBS; co reached an agreement with Gibson Energy for the construction of a 500,000 barrel dedicated storage tank at the Gibson terminal in Hardisty, Alberta
FET (21.49 -3.37%): Downgraded to Undperform from Hold at Jefferies

11:39 am Stocks/ETFs that traded to new 52 week highs/lows this session - New highs (193) outpacing new lows (23) (:SCANX) : Stocks that traded to 52 week highs: A, AAIT, AAXJ, AB, ABC, ACGL, ACHC, ACWI, ADS, ADXS, AEO, AEPI, AERI, AGO, AIG, ALV, AMCX, AMOT, ANAC, AOD, APB, APOG, ARAY, ASMB, ATRA, AWH, AXTA, AZO, BAMM, BCV, BHV, BLDR, BONA, BTX, BX, BXMT, CAF, CBAN, CBF, CBM, CBPO, CDW, CDXS, CEB, CERN, CGNX, CHXF, CI, CLVS, CNR, COL, CRI, CRRC, CSGP, CSU, CUDA, CW, CYN, CYT, DCO, DDS, DFP, DHIL, DL, DNKN, DPLO, DTSI, DXCM, DXJS, EEMA, EGRX, EIG, EIGI, ELLI, ENDP, EPAM, ETM, EURN, EVHC, EWBC, FCHI, FDP, FONE, GIII, GIMO, GMED, GNE, GPN, GRX, GSH, HCA, HIFR, HILL, HMHC, HMN, HOFT, HRC, HRS, HTLF, HW, ICLN, IMAX, INAP, INCY, INTL, IPCM, IPKW, IPWR, IR, ISCA, ISRG, IVC, JBLU, JD, JEQ, JFC, KRNT, KTWO, LBY, LCI, LMAT, LUX, MACK, MASI, MCO, MDGN, MFLX, MNTA, MRGE, MTD, MTG, MYCC, NAP, NAT, NHTC, NOAH, NOW, NRZ, NVRO, OMCL, ORBK, PARR, PETS, PFE, PFNX, PKI, PLAY, PLT, PNQI, PRFZ, PRTO, PSCH, PZE, QLIK, RDY, REPH, RGA, SABR, SGC, SHOO, SHW, SIGM, SNPS, SQNM, STCK, STK, STON, STRZA, STZ, SVU, TANH, TDY, TGT, THQ, THRM, TLMR, TRK, TXMD, TXT, TYL, UA, ULTI, UTHR, VICR, VIPS, VRX, VTWG, VTWO, VUSE, WD, WETF, WWAV, XLS

Stocks that traded to 52 week lows: APOL, ARTW, CIDM, CLTX, CRVP, EAC, EQS, ICLD, IRG, ISDR, IVAC, LC, MVG, NSPH, PRKR, RGSE, SCHN, STRI, SVLC, TICC, TKC, VRS, ZEUS

ETFs that traded to 52 week highs: CUT, FXI, GXC, HAO, IHI, ITA, IWM, PIN, TAN, TAO, UWM

ETFs that traded to 52 week lows: VXX, VXZ

7:04 am Micrel announce postponement of 2015 annual meeting from June 19, 2015 to August 4, 2015 (MCRL) : The postponement will allow the Board and the Company's management to further evaluate the Company's strategic alternatives. On January 20, 2015, the Company announced that its Board of Directors decided to undertake a comprehensive review of strategic alternatives to enhance value for shareholders.