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From Briefing.com: 6:23 pm TerraForm Global President and CEO Brian Wuebbels resigns effective immediately (GLBL) :

The board has formed an office of the chairman to lead TerraForm Global on an interim basis. The office of the chairman will be led by Peter Blackmore, an independent director and chairman of the Company. Independent directors Christopher Compton, Hanif Dahya and Jack Jenkins-Stark will also join the office of the chairman. The office of the chairman will report to the board and its committees in a substantially similar manner as a chief executive officer. All other key executives will remain in their roles, including Rebecca Cranna, executive vice president and chief financial officer, and Yana Kravtsova, general counsel, senior vice president and secretary.

In addition, the board has appointed Mr. Ilan Daskal to be a member of the board, effective immediately.

6:20 pm TerraForm Power President and CEO Brian Wuebbels resigns effective immediately (TERP)

The board has formed an office of the chairman to lead TerraForm Power on an interim basis. The office of the chairman will be led by Peter Blackmore, an independent director and chairman of the Company. Independent directors Christopher Compton, Hanif Dahya and Jack Jenkins-Stark will also join the office of the chairman. The office of the chairman will report to the board and its committees in a substantially similar manner as a chief executive officer. All other key executives of the Company will remain in their roles, including Rebecca Cranna, executive vice president and chief financial officer, and Sebastian Deschler, general counsel, senior vice president and secretary.

In addition, the board has appointed Ilan Daskal to be a member of the board, effective immediately. Daskal has recently been appointed chief financial officer designee and executive vice president of SunEdison (SUNE), with a scheduled start date of no later than April 4, 2016.

5:02 pm TerraForm Global files to delay Form 10-K, as expected (GLBL) : The Company's delay in filing the Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015, is due principally to the need to complete all steps and tasks necessary to finalize the Company's annual financial statements and other disclosures required to be in the filing.

4:14 pm Micron beats by $0.04, misses on revs; guides Q3 EPS below consensus, revs in-line (MU) :

Reports Q2 (Feb) loss of $0.05 per share, $0.04 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of ($0.09); revenues fell 29.6% year/year to $2.93 bln vs the $3.05 bln Capital IQ Consensus.The company's overall consolidated gross margin of 20 percent (Guidance 17-20%) for the second quarter of fiscal 2016 was 5 percent lower compared to the first quarter of fiscal 2016 primarily due to lower average selling prices partially offset by manufacturing cost reductions for Non-Volatile products.

DRAMMobile was in the low 30% rangePC segment was in the mid 20% range Server business was in the high teens percent range

NANDNAND/Non-Volatile Memory gross margin declined slightly in the quarter, consistent with expectations

Co issues guidance for Q3, sees EPS of (0.12)-(0.05), excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.03 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q3 revs of $2.9-3.2 bln vs. $3.19 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate. Gross Margin 17.5-20.0%; Operating Expense $565-620 mln;
Operating Income ($60 mln)-$20 mln
Comments
PC DRAM remains under pressure; however there are signs of demand stabilizing.
We are on track with the qualification of several new technologies including 20nm DDR4 and low-power DDR4, as well as 3D NAND.
The majority of Micron's growth will occur in the latter half of our FY 2016.
We expect Micron to be above the market in DRAM For trade NAND, we expect to be below the market

4:15 pm : The stock market ended the Wednesday affair on a higher note as cautious remarks from Fed Chair Yellen boosted risk appetite for the second day in a row. Additional focal points for today's trade included relative strength from the heavyweight technology (+0.7%) and financial (+0.6%) sectors, wavering oil trade, and a continued downturn in biotechnology. The Nasdaq Composite (+0.5%) in-line with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (+0.5%) and the S&P 500 (+0.4%).

Equity indices opened their day sharply above their flat lines as global bourses rallied in response to yesterday's dovish remarks from Fed Chair Yellen. Ms. Yellen's cautious tone boosted risk appetite overseas and at home as she advocated a more gradual path to interest rate normalization. Furthermore, an early rally in crude oil worked to buttress the opening move higher.

However, risk appetite waned when WTI crude slipped from its session high. The slide in oil corresponded to the release of a better than expected reading from the Department of Energy's weekly inventory report. Despite a smaller than expected build in crude stockpiles (2.30 million barrels; expected 3.30 million) and a larger than estimated draw from gasoline inventories (2.51 million barrels; expected 2.17 million), the energy component folded to selling pressure at its session high ($39.80/bbl). However, WTI crude was able to end its day in positive territory, settling up 0.2% at $32.86/bbl.

The major averages moved higher following the conclusion of oil's pit session and seven of ten sectors were able to end their day in the green. On the top of the leaderboard, the heavily-weighted technology (+0.7%) and financial (+0.6%) sectors led while consumer discretionary (+0.6%) and materials (+0.5%) followed.

In the influential technology space (+0.7%), Apple (AAPL 109.56, +1.88) extended its March gain to 12.2% after the tech giant received an upgrade to "Outperform" and a price target increase ($135) at Cowen. Elsewhere in the group, Salesforce.com (CRM 74.30, +2.00) jumped 2.8% after announcing a blank purchase agreement with various departments of the U.S. government that totaled $603 million.

Insurance names gained in the financial sector (+0.6%) after MetLife (MET 44.73, +2.27) had its "Too Big to Fail" designation removed by a district court. The company rallied 5.4% while Prudential (PRU 72.95, +1.43) and American International Group (AIG 54.52, +1.13) traded higher in sympathy with the name.

In the consumer discretionary space (+0.6%), above-consensus bottom-line results from Carnival (CCL 52.37, +2.73) helped lift the resort and leisure sub-group. Elsewhere, Amazon (AMZN 598.69, +4.83) extended its week to date advance to 2.5% while Netflix (NFLX 102.19, -1.94) fell 1.9%.

On the bottom of the leaderboard, countercyclical utilities (-0.2%), health care (-0.1%), and telecom services (UNCH) underperformed.

Biotechnology continued to weigh on the broader health care sector (-0.1%) as the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 254.94, -1.67) slipped 0.7%. Today's decline in the broader ETF followed a leg lower for Valeant Pharmaceuticals (VRX 27.07, -1.91). The pharmaceutical company dove 6.6% after requesting another extension to file its 10-K form.

The U.S. Dollar Index (94.84, -0.32) slipped further today as the euro and the yen extended their recent gain over the greenback. The euro/dollar pair gained 0.4% and ended at 1.1334 while the dollar lost 0.2% (112.45) against the yen.

The Treasury complex fell to session lows during the height of the rally in equities and slowly marched off those levels as the major averages slipped from their highs. The yield on the 10-yr note ended its day higher by two basis points at 1.82%.

Today's participation fell beneath the recent average as fewer than 700 million shares changed hands on the NYSE floor.

Today's economic data included the weekly MBA Mortgage Index and the the ADP Employment Change for March:

The weekly MBA Mortgage Index fell 1.0% to follow last week's 3.3% drop
The ADP Employment report for March came in just ahead of expectations (200K; Briefing.com consensus 196K).
This report is a prelude to the more influential March Employment Situation report, which will be released on Friday morning (Briefing.com consensus 200K).

Tomorrow's economic data will include March's Challenger Job Cuts and weekly initial claims (Briefing.com consensus 265k), which will cross the wires at 7:30 ET and 8:30 ET, respectively. The day's data will be capped off with the 9:45 ET release of the Chicago PMI for March (Briefing.com consensus 49.9).

Nasdaq Composite -2.8% YTD
Russell 2000 -2.0% YTD
S&P 500 +1.0% YTD
Dow Jones +1.7% YTD

DJ30 +83.55 NASDAQ +22.67 SP500 +8.94 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1757/1.576 bln/1075 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1893/800.17 mln/1119

3:35 pm :

The dollar index lost steam in early afternoon trade but staged a small rally 30 min before the stock market closes
Commodities, as measured by the Bloomberg Commodity Index, were down -0.5% at 78.93
Crude oil initially rallied after inventory data showed a smaller-than-expected build of +2.299 mln barrels compared to estimates for +3.3 mln barrels, but has since declined and closed near the lows for the day
May crude oil futures closed down -2.6% at $38.36/barrel
Natural gas dipped as low as $1.96/MMBtu before rallying to a new high of the day, giving up some of those gains near the close
May natural gas futures closed up +2.6% at $1.99/MMBtu
In precious metals, gold quickly dropped below yesterday's previous close and consolidated in that area the rest of the day before staging a modest rally near the close
June gold futures closed up +0.5% $1226.80/oz, gold futures have switched their front month to June as indicated by the active amount of volume in those contracts
Silver plummeted below the previous day's close and traded near parity with the previous close before ending slightly up for the day
May silver futures closed +0.1% higher at $15.21/oz
Base metal copper plummeted in early morning trading before consolidating in a tight range all day
May copper futures closed -2.7% lower at $2.19/lb

Tech Stocks from Briefing.com: Trading was strong today, as S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average turned in a solid Wednesday session , as both touched their best marks of the year so far during the session. When the day was done, Wednesday was led by the Nasdaq Composite, which added 22.67 points (+0.47%) to close 4869.29 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which also ended up (+0.47%) by adding 83.55 points to close 17716.66. The S&P 500 also ended with solid gains, higher by 8.94 points (+0.44%) to close 2063.95 when the bell rang. Market data today consisted of the weekly MBA Mortgage Index which fell 1.0% to follow last week's 3.3% drop. Also, the ADP Employment report for March came in just ahead of expectations at 200,000.

Technology (XLK 44.45, +0.26 +0.59%) posted a strong performance as well, as component Salesforce.com (CRM 74.30, +2.00 +2.77%) displayed relative strength on the heels of a $603 million government Blanket Purchase Agreement. Other sectors as measured by the S&P finished the day XLP +0.66%, XLY +0.64%, XLF +0.58%, XLB +0.44%, IYZ +0.43%, XLE +0.19%, XLI +0.18%, XLV +0.01%, XLU -0.24% with Consumer Staples leading the charge to the upside and Utilities ending the session as the lone laggard.

Trading in the technology space as measured by the S&P 500 Information Technology sector (738.27, +5.13 +0.70%) was in the green for the entirety of the session as component Apple (AAPL 109.56, +1.88 +1.75%) outperformed on the heels of a Cowen upgrade to Outperform. Other names in the sector which finished in the green today included CRM +2.77%, V +1.86%, AVGO +1.82%, CSC +1.67%, TXN +1.67%, XLNX +1.31%, CSCO +1.28%.

Other notable news items among sector components:

eBay (EBAY 24.04, -0.06 -0.25%) acquired Cargigi. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Alphabet (GOOG 750.53, +5.76 +0.77%) commenced an exchange offer for Google issued notes.

NetApp (NTAP 26.66, -0.60 -2.20%) named former Altera (ALTR) CFO, Ron Pasek, as CFO of the company effective April 11.

Salesforce.com (CRM) announced a $603 million government Blanket Purchase Agreements.

Elsewhere in the tech space:

T-Mobile US (TMUS 38.44, +0.01 +0.03%) agreed to sell $1 billion of 6.000% Senior Notes due 2024.
In addition to reporting quarterly results, Verint Systems (VRNT 33.49, -1.70 -4.83%) announced a $150 million share repurchase program.

Checkpoint Systems (CKP 10.24, -0.04 -0.39%) shareholder Wynnefield Capital stated their strong opposition to the 'take under' sale of Checkpoint to CCL Industries.

GameLoft (GLOFY 32.55, flat) filed a complaint against the declaration of compliance related to the takeover bid by Vivendi (VIVHY 21.48, +0.28 +1.32%).

Tremor Video (TRMR 1.78, flat) announced a $15 million share repurchase program.

CenturyLink (CTL 31.87, +0.28 +0.89%) acquired NetAura. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Konica Minolta (KYO 44.09, -0.26 -0.59%) announced an agreement to acquire a majority stake in MOBOTIX. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.Also, KYO acquired 100% ownership of SGS Tool through a share purchase agreement.RADCOM (RDCM 13.29, -0.27 -1.99%) filed for $50 million ordinary share shelf offering.

ModusLink Global Solutions (MLNK 1.50, -0.01 -0.66%) named Warren Lichtenstein as its interim CEO.

In reaction to quarterly results:

Paychex (PAYX 53.29, -1.20 -2.20%) reported in-line Q3 EPS and revenues of $0.50 and $752.6 million, respectively. Also, PAYX reaffirmed FY16 net income guidance of +8-9% on total service revenues of +7-8% and payroll service revenues of +4-5% with Human Resource Services revenues of +10-13%.

Verint Systems (VRNT) reported worse than expected Q4 EPS of $0.90 on worse than expected revenues which fell 10.7% versus last year to $281.8 million. Also, the company issued guidance for FY17 EPS and revenues to come in worse than expected at 'similar to the year-end January 31, 2016' which equates to about $3.04 and revenues 'similar to the year-end January 31, 2016' which equates to about plus or minus 2% to about $1.11-1.15 billion.

Upland Software (UPLD 6.85, +0.02 +0.29%) reported in-line EPS for the Q4 period at $0.01 on revenues which were better than expected and rose 6.7% versus last year to $17.6 million. In addition, UPLD issued in-line guidance for Q1 period revenues of $17.1-18.1 million. Also, the company sees FY16 revenues in-line with Street expectations at $70-74 million.

Companies scheduled to report tonight: MU, PRGS, ANY

Analyst actions:

AAPL was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Cowen,
MDRX was upgraded to Overweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley,
IMASY was upgraded to Hold from Sell at Berenberg;
VRNT was downgraded to Hold at Deutsche Bank and to Underperform at Credit Suisse,
CMP was downgraded to Hold from Buy at BB&T Capital Mkts,
FORM was downgraded to Hold from Buy at Stifel,
INOV was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley,
TERP was downgraded to Neutral from Overweight at JP Morgan;
P, YELP, SQ were initiated at Mizuho,
PYPL was initiated with a Mkt Perform at Bernstein,
GIMO was initiated with a Hold at Stifel,
SCON was initiated with a Neutral at Rodman & Renshaw