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From Briefing.com: The broader market closed mid-week trading higher. The Nasdaq Composite led the way higher today, adding 65.54 points (+1.30%) to 5095.69. The S&P 500 also posted strong gains, up 24.46 points (+1.18%) to 2090.35. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rounded out the bunch up 198.09 points (+1.13%) to 17779.52. Economic data today was limited to the MBA Mortgage Index which fell 3.5% to follow last week's 11.8% spike. Strength in US equities came on the back of strength in foreign markets, as everything from the PSI to the CAC was higher by more than 1.0% when the markets closed.

Also today, the Federal Reserve left rates unchanged at 0 to 0.25%. Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in September suggests that economic activity has been expanding at a moderate pace. Inflation is anticipated to remain near its recent low level in the near term but the Committee expects inflation to rise gradually toward 2 percent over the medium term as the labor market improves further and the transitory effects of declines in energy and import prices dissipate.

The Technology (XLK 44.06, +0.65 +1.50%) sector closed Wednesday action near session highs. The sector did not touch negative territory all session, seeing only mild pressure following the Fed release. Other sector finished XLF +2.51%, IYZ +2.31%, XLE +2.22%, XLB +1.51%, XLK +1.50%, XLY +0.95%, XLV +0.83%, XLI +0.80%, XLP -0.57%, XLU -1.06% with only Consumer Staples and Utilities lagging the broader market.

Networking (IGN 38.73, +1.00 +2.65%) stocks posted notable strength today as names like TSS +5.96%, HRS +5.05%, AVGO +4.61%, FSLR +3.44%, TDC +3.24% took the sector higher. Most notably, sector component Infinera (INFN 21.12, +2.82 +15.41%) reported better than expected Q3 results, with revenues up more than a third.

Semiconductors (SOX 677.21, +11.50 +1.73%) also turned in another day of outperformance. Sector component Teradyne (TER 20.34, +1.79 +9.65%) finished the day higher as the company reported quarterly results last night. For the Q3 period, TER beat on the bottom line with EPS of $0.40 on revenues which fell 2.5% YoY, and were mostly in-line with expectations at $466.0 million. Sector names Maxim Integrated (MXIM 42.01, +3.56 +9.26%) and Texas Instruments (TXN 58.67, +0.63 +1.09%) also finished higher as there were reports that TXN was in talks to acquire MXIM.

The S&P 500 Information Technology ( 742.57, +11.16 +1.53%) sector closed today near highs of the day. Blue chip name Apple (AAPL 119.27, +4.72 +4.12%) posted better than expected results for the Q4 period, helping the sector higher today. Other names which posted gains on the session included: YHOO +2.58%, FIS +2.54%, CTXS +2.36%, CTSH +2.19%, IBM +2.15%, NTAP +2.10%, EA +1.99%, HPQ +1.93%, WU +1.87%, V +1.74%, ACN +1.72%, MA +1.69%, QCOM +1.66%.

Other notable news items among sector components:

IBM (IBM 140.83, +2.97 +2.15%) to acquire The Weather Company's B2B mobile and cloud-based web properties. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Fiserv (FISV 96.59, +1.16 +1.22%) announced that CFO Thomas Hirsch will retire on March 31, 2016.

Verizon (VZ 46.48, +0.31 +0.67%) Enterprise Solutions is adding HP (HPQ 27.98, +0.53 +1.93%) and Verizon Cloud to its Secure Cloud Interconnect service, essentially doubling the size of its footprint in the Asia-Pacific region and increasing the number of cloud providers, giving clients a seamless way to connect, manage and secure their multi-cloud environments.

BroadSoft (BSFT 31.34, +1.59 +5.34%) today announced that its BroadWorks, BroadCloud and UC-One unified communication and collaboration solutions are now compatible with Microsoft (MSFT 53.98, +0.29 +0.54%) Lync and Microsoft Skype for Business.

VeriSign (VRSN 80.90, +1.07 +1.34%) announced that XYZ, the registry operator behind .xyz, had defeated VRSN in a lawsuit dating back to Dec. 2014. The summary judgement victory for XYZ noted there were not triable issues for a jury.

Elsewhere in the technology sector:

FEI (FEIC 70.19, -6.28 -8.21%) in addition to reporting quarterly earnings, announced an agreement to acquire DCG Systems for $160 million in cash. The deal is expected to be slightly accretive to 2016 GAAP EPS.

Toshiba (TOSBF 2.89, +0.03 +1.12%) announced that it has entered into a non-binding MOU that confirms the intent to negotiate and transfer to Sony (SNE 28.97, +0.37 +1.29%) certain Toshiba owned semiconductor fabrication facilities, equipment and related assets.

CGI Group (GIB 36.90, +0.33 +0.90%) expanded its outsourcing agreement with DB Schenker to cover more mission-critical applications. The 4-year extension is valued at about SEK65 million.

TrueCar (TRUE 6.25, +0.07 +1.13%) projected total new vehicle sales including fleet deliveries will hit 1,427,500 units in October, up 11.4% year-over-year.

InterCloud Systems (ICLD 1.68, -0.03 -1.75%) received a new contract valued at $500K.

Fifth Third (FITB 19.66, +0.91 +4.85%) confirmed it entered into an agreement with Vantiv (VNTV 50.92, +3.93 +8.36%) under which a portion of its Tax Receivable Agreement with VNTV was terminated and settled in full for consideration of a cash payment in the amount of $48.9 million from VNTV.

USA Tech (USAT 2.67, +0.10 +3.89%) commented on a class action filed against the company, alleging misleading statements by management. The company believes the claims 'lack merit.'
beIN SPORTS has entered a new content distribution agreement with go90 and Verizon (VZ) FiOS, giving customers greater access to live international soccer.

Harmonic (HLIT 5.85, +0.15 +2.63%) reported that CFO Carolyn Aver will be leaving the company and that Harold Covert has been appointed as the new CFO effective immediately.

Natl Instruments (NATI 30.58, +2.16 +7.60%) acquired Micropross for about $108 million. The deal is expected to be accretive to non-GAAP earnings in 2016.

In reaction to quarterly results:

Apple (AAPL) reported Q4 EPS and revenues which beat expectations. For Q4, EPS was $1.96 on revenues which rose 22.3% YoY to $51.5 billion. The company also guided Q1 revenues of $75.5-77.5 billion. iPhones sold in the period numbered 48.1 million and iPads were 9.9 million with Macs sold of 5.7 million.

Twitter (TWTR) reported Q3 EPS and revenues which beat expectations. The company saw EPS of $0.10 on revenues which rose 57.6% YoY to $569 million. TWTR also issued downside guidance for Q4 in the range of $695-710 million.

NCR Corp (NCR 26.28, +1.92 +7.88%) reported Q3 EPS which beat expectations at $0.78 on revenues which missed and fell 2.1% YoY to $1.61 billion. The company also issued upside guidance for FY15 EPS of $2.70-2.80 (prior $2.60-2.80) and decreased revenue guidance to 3-4% due to challenges in developing markets.

Infinera (INFN) reported Q3 EPS and revenues which were better than expected. Q3 EPS was $0.22 and revenues were up 33.9% YoY to $232.5 million.

VASCO Data Security (VDSI 19.51, +1.83 +10.35%) reported a top and bottom line beat on Q3 expectations. EPS came in $0.34 on revenues which grew 14.1% YoY to $60.03 million.

DHI Group (DHX 9.00, +1.09 +13.78%) reported a beat on the top and bottom line of expectations for Q3. The company saw Q3 EPS of $0.12 on revenues which fell 3.7% YoY to $65.1 million.

Akamai Tech (AKAM 62.91, -12.64 -16.73%) reported Q3 EPS better than anticipated at $0.62 on revenues which rose 10.6% YoY to $551 million.

United Micro (UMC 1.87, -0.05 -2.60%) reported earnings of NT$0.14 per share on revenues which fell 7.1% YoY to NT$35.32 billion.

Companies reporting tonight/tomorrow morning: AFOP, ARRS, ATML, BLKB, CACI, CAVM, CMPR, CRUS, DMRC, ECHO, ESIO, ELLI, EQIX, FFIV, FORM, FORR, GPRO, NSIT, ISIL, INVN, MANT, NCIT, NXPI, OTEX, PSEM, PLXS, POWI, PTC, QRVO, QUIK, ROG, ROVI, SGI, SIMO, SWI, SPRT, TTMI, VECO, WSTL, WDC, YELP/ALU, ALLT, AVT, CCMP, DBD, EXLS, IMS, IQNT, I, IRDM, KEM, LDOS, MMYT, MA, MWW, NTCT, NICE, NOK, NTLS, STM, TZOO

Analyst action:

TWTR was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Stifel,
AAPL was upgraded to Overweight from Sector Weight at Pacific Crest,
AIXG was upgraded to Hold from Sell at Kepler;
GRUB was downgraded at Susquehanna and RBC Capital Mkts,
AKAM was downgraded at Craig Hallum, JP Morgan, Cowen and Canaccord Genuity,
SPIL was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies,
MRVL was downgraded to Sell from Neutral at Citigroup

4:50 pm Integrated Device announces a private offering of $325 mln in convertible senior notes due 2022 (IDTI) : Co expects to use a portion of the net proceeds from the offering to repurchase shares of the Company's common stock.The Company intends to use any remaining net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes.

4:26 pm SunPower beats by $0.15, beats on revs; guides Q4 revs above consensus (SPWR) :

Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $0.13 per share, $0.15 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of ($0.02); revenues fell 37.3% year/year to $441.4 mln vs the $428.89 mln Capital IQ Consensus. Co issues guidance for Q4, sees Q4 revs of $1.25-1.30 bln vs. $1.22 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate. The company's fourth quarter fiscal 2015 non-GAAP guidance is as follows: Gross margin of 28 percent to 29 percent, EBITDA of $300 to $325 million MW deployed in the range of 275 MW to 305 MW. On a GAAP basis:Revenue of $300 million to $350 million, Gross margin of 5 percent to 6 percent and Net loss per diluted share of $1.25 to $1.15. Fourth quarter 2015 GAAP guidance includes the impact of the company's holdco strategy and deferrals due to real estate accounting.The company is also raising its fiscal year 2015 EBITDA guidance to $475 million to $500 million, an increase from its previous guidance of $425 million to $475 million.

2016 Outlook

"In relation to working capital, we increased inventory in the third quarter in preparation to meet our significant 2016 backlog while adding assets to our holdco asset base. With solid industry fundamentals, a diversified end channel strategy, new product introductions and further commitment to our manufacturing cost reduction roadmaps, we are well positioned for profitable growth in 2016."

4:25 pm Western Digital reports EPS in-line, revs in-line (WDC) :

Reports Q1 (Sep) earnings of $1.56 per share, in-line with the Capital IQ Consensus of $1.56; revenues fell 14.8% year/year to $3.36 bln vs the $3.35 bln Capital IQ Consensus. "We continue to benefit from our strong product and technology positioning in today's storage market. I am very excited about our future and ability to create long term value in the evolving storage ecosystem, especially in light of our three recent announcements regarding the planned investment in our company by Unisplendour, the MOFCOM decision and our planned acquisition of SanDisk."

4:24 pm TTM Tech beats by $0.07, misses on revs; guides Q4 EPS midpoint below consensus, revs below consensus (TTMI) :

Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $0.24 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.07 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.17; revenues rose 88.3% year/year to $652 mln vs the $661.74 mln Capital IQ Consensus. Adjusted EBITDA for Q3 was $87.6 million, or 13.4% of net sales, compared to adjusted EBITDA of $59.7 million, or 13.4% of net sales, for Q2 and $43.6 million, or 12.6% of net sales, for Q3.Co issues downside guidance for Q4, sees EPS of $0.21-0.27 vs. $0.27 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q4 revs of $640-680 mln vs. $695.95 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

4:17 pm FormFactor beats by $0.03, reports revs in-line (FORM) :

Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $0.06 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.03 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.03; revenues fell 10.8% year/year to $65.9 mln vs the $65.37 mln Capital IQ Consensus."Our continued focus on cost control and operational execution enabled FormFactor to deliver a 6th consecutive quarter of non-GAAP profitability and cash generation, despite well-publicized industry demand headwinds. In addition, we experienced strengthening demand towards the end of Q3 with continued momentum into Q4, as customers increasingly rely on FormFactor to enable their new product introductions and ramps."

4:10 pm Intersil beats by $0.01, beats on revs; guides Q4 EPS in-line, revs in-line (ISIL) :

Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $0.15 per share, $0.01 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.14; revenues fell 10.6% year/year to $128.4 mln vs the $126.38 mln Capital IQ Consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for Q4, sees EPS of $0.12-0.15 vs. $0.14 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q4 revs of $123-131 mln vs. $126.02 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

4:09 pm Atmel reports EPS in-line, misses on revs; guides Q4 revs below consensus (being acquired by Dialog) (ATML) :

Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $0.08 per share, in-line with the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.08; revenues fell 23.5% year/year to $286.5 mln vs the $293.16 mln Capital IQ Consensus. Co issues downside guidance for Q4, sees Q4 revs of $266-286 mln vs. $297.64 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.sees non-GAAP gross margin between 47.0 and 48.0%; sees non-GAAP operating expenses between $98 and $102 million

4:09 pm F5 Networks beats by $0.10, misses on revs; guides Q1 EPS below consensus, revs below consensus (FFIV) :

Reports Q4 (Sep) earnings of $1.84 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.10 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $1.74; revenues rose 7.7% year/year to $501.3 mln vs the $506.44 mln Capital IQ Consensus. Co issues downside guidance for Q1, sees EPS of $1.58-1.61 vs. $1.71 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q1 revs of $480-490 mln vs. $507.10 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

4:07 pm Plexus beats by $0.02, reports revs in-line; guides Q1 EPS below consensus, revs below consensus (PLXS) :

Reports Q4 (Sep) earnings of $0.70 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.02 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.68; revenues rose 0.4% year/year to $669 mln vs the $663.95 mln Capital IQ Consensus. Co issues downside guidance for Q1, sees EPS of $0.41-0.48, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.72 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q1 revs of $600-625 mln vs. $675.49 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate."Looking forward to fiscal 2016, while our visibility is limited, we anticipate a challenging start to the year due to market sector weakness, particularly in Networking/Communications and Industrial/Commercial, in the first half of the fiscal year. We are guiding fiscal first quarter 2016 revenue of $600 to $625 million with diluted EPS in the range of $0.41 to $0.48."

4:06 pm Power Integrations beats by $0.04, reports revs in-line; guides Q4 revs in-line (POWI) :

Reports Q3 (Sep) earnings of $0.55 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.04 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.51; revenues fell 1.4% year/year to $88.9 mln vs the $88.3 mln Capital IQ Consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for Q4, sees Q4 revs of $86-92 mln vs. $88.4 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

4:06 pm Westell Tech beats by $0.04, beats on revs (WSTL) :

Reports Q2 (Sep) loss of $0.01 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.04 better than the single analyst estimate of ($0.05); revenues rose 7.6% year/year to $25.5 mln vs the $21.35 mln single analyst estimate.

4:06 pm Veeco Instruments announces a $100 million share repurchase program (VECO) :


4:01 pm Cirrus Logic beats by $0.06, beats on revs; guides Q3 revs above consensus; adds $200 mln to buyback (CRUS) :

Reports Q2 (Sep) earnings of $0.65 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.06 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.59; revenues rose 46% year/year to $306.8 mln vs the $300.83 mln Capital IQ Consensus. Co issues upside guidance for Q3, sees Q3 revs of $370-400 mln vs. $353.50 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.Adds $200 mln to buyback.

4:05 pm Mellanox Tech announces that its CEO and CFO have each adopted a 10b5-1 trading plan, to sell a portion of their shares (MLNX) : The co announced that Eyal Waldman, president and CEO, and Jacob Shulman, CFO, have each adopted a stock trading plan to sell a portion of their ordinary shares of the co in an orderly manner. In accordance with 10b5-1 rules, Mr. Waldman and Mr. Shulman will have no discretion over sales under their respective plans. Under Mr. Waldman's plan, Waldo 2 Holdings, a general partnership of which Mr. Waldman is a general partner, may sell up to 194,924 shares, the majority of which are options which will expire in 2016, for the benefit of Mr. Waldman subject to satisfaction of certain conditions. If the conditions are met, sales under the plan may commence in January 1, 2016 and would be completed by December 31, 2016. Under his plan, Mr. Shulman may sell up to 26,979 shares, subject to satisfaction of certain conditions. If the conditions are met, sales under the plan may commence in January 1, 2016 and would be completed by December 31, 2016.

4:10 pm : The stock market snapped its two-day skid on Wednesday, but not before seeing some intraday volatility. The S&P 500 added 1.2% while the Russell 2000 (+2.9%) outperformed.

Equity indices rallied out of the gate in response to a batch of mostly better than expected earnings. That lengthy list was headlined by Apple (AAPL 119.28, +4.73) with the top-weighted stock spiking 4.1% in reaction to better than expected earnings and revenue. For its part, the broader technology sector (+1.5%) settled ahead of the broader market while most other cyclical sectors also showed relative strength. None more so than the energy space (+2.2%), which spent the day in the lead after struggling over the past two days.

The growth-sensitive energy sector rallied behind crude oil, which spiked 6.3% to $45.93/bbl. Thanks to today's rally, the sector has narrowed this week's loss to 1.5%. Similarly, the materials space (+1.5%) also outperformed today after struggling earlier in the week.

After rallying through the first two hours of the session, the market hovered near its high until the 14:00 ET release of the latest policy statement from the Federal Reserve, which called for no change to the current policy stance.

That being said, the Federal Reserve took out a key line from its statement, which referred to global developments having the potential to restrain economic growth in the U.S. With that line being left out of the October statement, the Fed has left the door open to a potential rate hike in December.

Accordingly, the policy statement was met with a slide in stocks and Treasuries while the Dollar Index (97.65, +0.75) spiked to levels last seen at the start of October. The index remained near its high until the close while Treasuries settled near their lows with the 10-yr yield rising five basis points to 2.09%. Stocks, however, charged back to their highs after making a brief appearance near their flat lines immediately after the Fed statement crossed the wires.

It is worth noting that most sectors settled above their early afternoon highs while the financial sector (+2.4%) never missed a beat, charging to a fresh session-best shortly ahead of the close.

Elsewhere, the health care sector (+1.0%) settled a bit behind the market, but it is worth noting that today's underperformance followed two days of relative strength. The countercyclical sector extended this week's gain to 3.2% despite a struggling biotech group. That struggle was a distant memory by the close with the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 331.79, +4.14) ending higher by 1.3% while one of its top components-Gilead Sciences (GILD 108.13, -2.83)-fell 2.6% despite reporting better than expected earnings and revenue.

Today's participation was ahead of average with more than 960 million shares changing hands at the NYSE floor.

Economic data released today was limited to the weekly MBA Mortgage Index, which fell 3.5% to follow last week's 11.8% spike.

Tomorrow, weekly Initial Claims (Briefing.com consensus 264,000) and the advance reading of Q3 GDP (consensus 1.6%) will be released at 8:30 ET while the September Pending Home Sales report (expected 0.6%) will cross the wires at 10:00 ET.

Nasdaq Composite +7.6% YTD
S&P 500 +1.5% YTD
Dow Jones Industrial Average -0.2% YTD
Russell 2000 -2.1% YTD

DJ30 +198.09 NASDAQ +65.55 SP500 +24.46 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 2409/1.96 bln/627 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2421/982.9 mln/652

3:35 pm :

Following the FOMC statement, the dollar index surged higher and hit a new high for today
This weighed on select commodities, including gold and silver. Post-FOMC, gold sharply surrendered all gains and began to post notable losses
At the end of pit trading, Dec gold finished 0.9% higher at $1176.40/oz
Now, following the FOMC results, Dec gold is -0.8% at $1156.00/oz, while Dec silver is +0.6% at $15.97/oz
Oil futures surged higher today, finishing pit trading +6.3% at $45.93/barrel. Dec natural gas lost -3.1% to $2.29/MMBtu
Here in electronic trade, Dec crude oil is +6.3% at $45.92/barrel

11:29 am Stocks/ETFs that traded to new 52 week highs/lows this session - New highs (136) outpacing new lows (112) (SCANX) : Stocks that traded to 52 week highs: ABCB, ACN, ACXM, AFL, AGII, BBCN, BCOM, BDGE, BKFS, CACB, CAM, CBZ, CCL, CEVA, CHFC, CHMT, CIA, CIGI, CINF, CLI, CMN, CORE, CRWN, CSBK, CSH, CTAS, CTXS, CUBE, CVCO, CWBC, DCOM, DMND, DPS, EA, EBF, EGBN, EGHT, ESSA, FBC, FBNC, FBNK, FCBC, FFIC, FIS, FISV, FIZZ, FLTX, FMX, FR, FRME, FSV, GPN, GSBC, HCSG, HRB, HSIC, HSII, HTBI, ICE, IGLD, ISBC, JAXB, JBSS, JBT, JMG, JNPR, JRVR, KRNY, LANC, LDL, LDOS, LEA, LII, MAA, MAS, MATW, MORE, MRCY, MSG, MTN, MYGN, NAVG, NCLH, NHTC, NOC, NP, NSA, NWBI, OA, OCFC, OMI, ORI, ORRF, OZRK, PAM, PATK, PAYX, PEGA, PFGC, PFS, PGR, PRK, PSA, PSX, RLI, ROCK, ROP, RSYS, RTN, SFBS, SIGI, SIRI, SIRO, SPG, SRCE, SSD, SSRI, SSS, SUBK, SYBT, SYKE, TE, TOWN, TRV, TSS, TTC, TTWO, ULTI, V, VNTV, VVI, WAFD, WCN, WSFS, XRAY, YDKN

Stocks that traded to 52 week lows: AGNC, AIQ, AIT, ATOS, AVH, AVNW, BCOR, BGFV, BIOD, BNTC, BOOM, CGI, CHMI, CLBS, CMI, CMLS, CNMD, COSI, CSTM, DAR, DDD, DNAI, DOM, DV, DWSN, EAT, ECHO, ELGX, EMMS, ENV, EXAC, FCAP, FDEU, FDML, FEIC, FLDM, FLIR, FMSA, FRGI, FSAM, FUEL, GNK, GNMK, GNRT, GOGL, GULTU, HAIN, HCLP, HNRG, HTLD, HTS, HWAY, IPI, ISSC, JMP, KODK, LENS, LGCY, LIQD, LNTH, LOB, LPTN, LRN, MCUR, MIL, MRTN, MSL, NETE, NIHD, NRF, NRP, NXTD, OCIP, OHGI, OZM, PCO, PERF, PMD, PSIX, PSO, PTCT, PULM, RCII, RLOC, RNWK, RPRX, RVLT, RWT, SAH, SAIA, SCON, SJT, SMRT, SMSI, SQQQ, SSE, SXC, SXCL, TDC, TECH, TLN, TOR, TUMI, UNIS, USAP, VDTH, VPCO, VRNG, WEX, WLB, WMT, ZFGN

ETFs that traded to 52 week highs: none

ETFs that traded to 52 week lows: none