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From Briefing.com: 4:21 pm Xilinx authorizes repurchase of up to an aggregate of $1 bln of the Company's debt and equity securities (XLNX) :

4:14 pm TerraForm Power receives notification letter from Nasdaq listing qualifications stating co is not in compliance because it has not yet filed its form 10-Q & remains delinquent in filing its form 10-K (TERP) : The notification letter stated that TerraForm Power had until May 16, 2016 to submit a plan to Nasdaq as to how it plans to regain compliance with Nasdaq's continued listing requirements. TerraForm Power submitted its compliance plan to Nasdaq today, May 16, 2016.

4:09 pm Agilent beats by $0.05, beats on revs; guides Q3 in-line; raises FY16 guidance above consensus (A) :

Reports Q2 (Apr) earnings of $0.44 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.05 better than the Capital IQ Consensus of $0.39; revenues rose 5.8% year/year to $1.02 bln vs the $0.98 bln Capital IQ Consensus. Second-quarter revenue of $495 million from Agilent's Life Sciences and Applied Markets Group (:LSAG) increased 5 percent year over year (up 8 percent on a core basis(2)), led by strong growth in pharma, food and environmental markets. LSAG's Q2 operating margin was 19.0 percent. Second-quarter revenue of $346 million from the Agilent CrossLab Group (ACG) grew 8 percent year over year (up 10 percent on a core basis). Both services and consumables continued to see solid growth worldwide. ACG's operating margin was 21.5 percent for the quarter. Second-quarter revenue of $178 million from Agilent's Diagnostics and Genomics Group (:DGG) increased 5 percent against a tough year-over-year compare (also up 5 percent on a core basis), reflecting strength in its diagnostics and genomics businesses. DGG's operating margin for the quarter was 15.0 percent.Co issues in-line guidance for Q3, sees EPS of $0.45-0.47, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.47 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q3 revs of $1.03-1.05 bln vs. $1.04 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate. Co issues upside guidance for FY16, EPS to $1.88-1.92 from $1.81-1.87, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $1.86 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; FY16 revs to $4.16-4.18 bln from $4.10-4.12 bln vs. $4.13 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate. The week's action began with a strong Monday session as equities rebounded off last week's negative bias. Trading left the Nasdaq Composite higher by 57.78 points (+1.22%) to 4775.46. The Dow Jones Industrial Average posted gains of 175.39 points (+1.00%) to 17710.71, helped by a +3.3% advance to June Crude Oil Futures. Rounding out the trio, the S&P 500 closed up 20.05 (+0.98%) to 2066.66. Market data today came in the form of the Empire Manufacturing Survey for May which posted a reading of -9.0. Also, the NAHB Housing Market Index for May came in at 58 from an un-revised 58 in April.

Today's session began on a higher note as investors shrugged off disappointing economic data from the U.S. and China. Over the weekend, China reported that April Industrial Production (+6.0%), Retail Sales (+10.1%) and Fixed Investment (+10.5%) each missed expectations. Meanwhile, the U.S. Empire Manufacturing Survey for May (-9.0) also came in below consensus.

Last week's mostly flat action in the Technology (XLK 42.80, +0.59 +1.40%) sector is far behind it as the space posted nice gains on the back of component Apple (AAPL 93.88, +3.36 +3.71%) took back some recent losses on the back of a 9.8 million share accumulation by Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A 212780.00, +640.00 +0.30%) which was disclosed in the company's Q1 13F filing. Other sectors as measured by the S&P closed the day XLB +1.72%, XLE +1.69%, XLV +1.36%, XLI +1.24%, IYZ +0.98%, XLP +0.64%, XLY +0.63%, XLF +0.52%, XLU +0.12% with Materials finishing the day at the top and Utilities ending modestly higher.

In the S&P 500 Information Technology (706.97, +9.70 +1.39%) sector, trading finished near highs on the back of strong component performance. To that end, component NVIDIA (NVDA 42.19, +1.21 +2.95%) posted a strong session on the back of a positive Barron's report from Saturday. Other names in the space which finished the day higher included GLW +2.78%, SWKS +2.75%, YHOO +2.74%, ADSK +2.09%, LLTC +1.98%, EA +1.89%, AVGO +1.86%, AKAM +1.72%.

Other notable news items among sector components:

Facebook (FB 118.67, -1.14 -0.95%) announced on their facebook for business page that they are extending to advertisers the ability to create video ads to be displayed through the Audience Network.

Corning (GLW 19.21, +0.52 +2.78%) announced the extension of the tender offer for shares of Alliance

Fiber Optic (AFOP 18.53, +0.02 +0.11%).

Dow Chemical (DOW 51.60, +1.05 +2.08%) and Dow Corning Corporation announced that Robert Hansen, chairman, CEO and President, has announced his intention to retire from Dow Corning Corporation upon the completion of DOW's ownership restructure transaction with Corning (GLW), which is expected to close in the second quarter of 2016. Dow Corning is a joint venture between DOW and GLW.

Xilinx (XLNX 43.51, +0.60 +1.40%) named Lorenzo Flores as CFO effective upon Jon Olson's retirement from the position of CFO on or about May 19, 2016.

Lam Research (LRCX 73.46, -0.88 -1.18%) and KLA-Tencor (KLAC 67.90, -0.70 -1.02%) each received a request for additional information and documentary material from the United States Department of Justice in connection with the proposed transaction between the companies.

Accenture (ACN 117.15, +1.71 +1.48%) and IPsoft announced the creation of an Accenture Amelia practice, designed to accelerate client adoption of artificial intelligence to improve business outcomes and create new growth opportunities for their businesses.

Elsewhere in the tech space:

AT&T (T 39.28, +0.13 +0.33%) to acquire Quickplay Media. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

TerraForm Global (GLBL 2.71, +0.10 +3.63%) received a letter which appears to claim a notice of default. The aforementioned notice appears to allege the failure of operating to comply with its obligations under the Indenture to timely furnish an annual report for fiscal year 2015.

Chipmos Technology (IMOS 17.29, +0.13 +0.76%) secured about $410.2 million in new credit facilities.

Digital Realty Trust (DLR 97.28, +2.88 +3.05%) entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a portfolio of eight high-quality, carrier-neutral data centers in Europe, five in London, two in Amsterdam and one in Frankfurt, from Equinix (EQIX 348.60, +4.23 +1.23%). The total purchase price is approximately $874 million, which represents a multiple of approximately 13 times the anticipated full-year 2016 portfolio EBITDA. In connection with this transaction, DLR has granted EQIX an option to acquire the company's facility at 114 rue Ambroise Croizat in Paris and its associated business, for a purchase price of about $215 million, before closing costs and prorations.

Digital Realty Trust (DLR) then later announced the commencement of an underwritten registered public offering of 11,500,000 shares of its common stock in connection with the EQIX deal.

RADCOM (RDCM 12.50, -0.45 -3.47%) commenced a $20 million common stock offering. Zohar Zisapel has agreed to purchase up to $5.6 million of the ordinary shares.

Telus (TU 31.63, +0.32 +1.02%) announced Doug French will replace John Gossling as CFO effective immediately.

Remark Media (MARK 4.61, +0.08 +1.81%) entered into a definitive agreement to acquire substantially all of the assets of China Branding Group Limited, including its operating subsidiaries. The transaction is expected to close by June 30, 2016 subject to customary closing and financing conditions, including approval of CBG shareholders. Per the terms of the acquisition, MARK will acquire CBG for $7.5 million in cash plus warrants to purchase 6.25 million shares of Remark Media common stock at a $10 strike price.

In reaction to quarterly results:

Leju Holdings (LEJU) reported worse than expected Q1 EPS of a loss per share of $0.04. Revenues were better than expected at $113 million, and the comapny reaffirmed FY16 revenue guidance in the range of $660-690 million.

Virtusa (VRTU) reported better than expected Q4 EPS and revenues of $0.55 and $171.8 million. The company also guided Q1 EPS and revenues worse than expected at $0.14-0.18 and $202.5-207.5 million, respectively. VRTU also guided FY17 EPS of $2.10-2.30 and revenues of $890-920 million.

Companies scheduled to report quarterly results tonight/tomorrow morning: A, MXPT/CYRN

Analyst actions:

NOK was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Canaccord Genuity;
WB was downgraded to Neutral from Buy at Goldman,
BLOX was downgraded to Underperform from Neutral at DA Davidson,
BITA was downgraded to Underweight from Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley


Closing Numbers: 4:15 pm : The S&P 500 (+1.0%) began its week on a higher note as the index reclaimed its 50-day simple moving average (2056.09). Today's trade featured an upswing in the oil pit, weakness in the dollar, an uptick in M&A activity, and a rebound in the heavyweight technology (+1.4%), health care (+1.4%), and industrial (+1.1%) sectors. The tech-heavy Nasdaq (+1.2%) finished in front of the Dow Jones Industrial Average (+1.0%) and the benchmark index (+1.0%).

The major averages began their day on a higher note as investors weighed a rally in crude oil against negative economic data. Over the weekend, Chinese retail sales, industrial production, and fixed asset investment all missed consensus estimates and showed deceleration on a year-over-year basis in April. Separately, the U.S. Empire Manufacturing Survey for May returned to contraction territory. However, weakness following the data subsided by the time the cash market opened.

Equity averages marched higher through the session as a rally in crude oil and sector leadership from technology (+1.4%), health care (+1.4%), and industrials (+1.1%) helped lend support to the broader market. All ten sectors finished their day above their flat lines as energy (+1.6%), technology (+1.4%), materials (+1.4%), and health care (+1.4%) led the pack. On the flipside, countercyclical utilities (+0.1%), telecom services (+0.4%), and consumer staples (+0.5%) showed the slimmest gains.

The energy space (+1.6%) enjoyed broad-based strength as the rally in crude oil helped the sector trim its May loss to 1.9%. In the group, Anadarko Petroleum (APC 49.17, +1.45) outperformed after Barron's offered a positive profile on the company. Meanwhile, Williams Companies (WMB 20.59, +1.24) gained 6.4% after filing a lawsuit against Energy Transfer Equity (ETE 12.79, +0.15) seeking to prevent ETE from avoiding its obligations under their merger agreement. WTI crude ended its day higher by 3.3% at $47.72/bbl.

In the heavyweight technology space (+1.4%), large cap Apple (AAPL 93.88, +3.36) gained 3.7% after Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B 141.85, +0.45) disclosed that it acquired 9.8 million shares of the tech company. Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway also added to its position in IBM (IBM 149.46, +1.74) and offered financing to a consortium of investors looking to bid on Yahoo! (YHOO 37.48, +1.00). Elsewhere, the high-beta chipmakers outperformed, evidenced by the 1.6% gain in the PHLX Semiconductor Index.

The health care space rebounded 1.4%, trimming its May loss to 2.9%. Major drug manufactures outperformed with Bristol-Myers (BMY 72.83, +1.65) and Eli Lilly (LLY 78.29, +1.96) gaining 2.3% and 2.6%, respectively. Elsewhere, Pfizer (PFE 33.38, +0.19) ticked higher by 0.6% after announcing that it would acquire Anacor Pharmaceuticals (ANAC 100.67, +36.64) for $99.25 a share. Separately, biotechnology outperformed, evidenced by the 3.1% gain in the iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 261.67, +7.77).

Retail names outperformed the broader consumer discretionary space (+0.6%), evidenced by the 0.8% increase in the SPDR S&P Retail ETF (XRT 41.38, +0.34). The ETF rebounded from last week's 4.1% decline. Conversely, Amazon (AMZN 710.66, +0.74) underperformed as the stock pulled from its post-earnings rally. Amazon has gained 18.1% since reporting above-consensus results for its first quarter on April 28.

The U.S. Dollar Index (94.55, -0.05) ended lower as commodity-sensitive currencies and the euro gained against the greenback. The dollar/Canadian dollar pair ended at 1.2906 (-0.3%) while the euro gained 0.1% against the dollar (1.1319).

The Treasury complex finished near its low as the yield on the 10-yr note rose five basis points to 1.75%.

Today's participation was below the recent averages as fewer than 860 million shares changed hands on the NYSE floor.

Today's economic data included the Empire Manufacturing Survey for May and the May NAHB Housing Market Index:

The Empire Manufacturing Survey for May hasn't helped turn the tide of sentiment. It was very disappointing with a reading of -9.0 (Briefing.com consensus +6.2; prior +9.6).
The reading resulted primarily from large drops in the indexes for new orders (to -5.5 from 11.1), shipments (to -1.9 from 10.2), unfilled orders (to -6.3 from -1.0), and the average employee workweek (to -8.3 from 1.9).
A number below zero for this report connotes contraction, so it's readily apparent that business conditions for manufacturers in the New York Fed region worsened in May.
The NAHB Housing Market Index for May came in at 58 from an unrevised 58 in April while the Briefing.com consensus expected the reading to come in at 59.0.

Tomorrow's economic data will include April Core CPI (Briefing.com consensus +0.3%), April Housing Starts (Briefing.com consensus 1135k), and April Building Permits (Briefing.com consensus 1130k), which will each cross the wires at 8:30 ET. Separately, April Industrial Production (Briefing.com consensus 0.2%) and April Capacity Utilization (Briefing.com consensus 75.0%) will be released at 9:15 ET.

Nasdaq Composite -4.6% YTD
Russell 2000 -1.7% YTD
S&P 500 +1.1% YTD
Dow Jones +1.6% YTD

DJ30 +175.39 NASDAQ +57.78 SP500 +20.05 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 2180/1.582 bln/586 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2322/859.8 mln/699

3:30 pm :

The dollar index rallies off its morning lows, still in the red for the day, currently down -0.01% around the 94.55 level
Commodities, as measured by the Bloomberg Commodity Index, are up +0.8% at 85.14
Crude oil closes near its 6-month highs, boosted by a number of bullish contributing factors cited below:
June crude oil futures rose $1.50 (+3.3%) to $47.72/barrel
Goldman Sachs made bullish comments about WTI crude, suggesting the oil market has gone to a supply deficit situation
Nigerian supply concerns after Nigerian output has been curtailed substantially on unrest there
Venezuelan oil production concerns amid political instability in the region
Reminders:
API inventory data is scheduled to be released tomorrow after the bell
Weekly EIA petroleum inventory data is scheduled to be released this Wednesday at 10:30 am ET
The next OPEC meeting is scheduled to take place on June 2, 2016
Natural gas plummets for the third trading session in a row
June natural gas closed $0.07 lower (-3.3%) at $2.03/MMBtu
A slurry of recent milder weather forecasts and a relatively cool summer raise doubts about near-term demand for natural gas
In precious metals, gold sees a steep morning drop, trading almost near parity with the previous session's close
June gold ended today's session up $2.00 (+0.2%) to $1274.60/oz
Silver also sees a steep morning drop off its initial highs, still closing modestly up on the day
July silver closed today's session $0.03 higher (+0.2%) at $17.15/oz
Base metal copper inches higher in afternoon pit trading
July copper closed $0.02 higher (+1.0%) at $2.09/lb


7:38 am Apple: Warren Buffett discloses new 9.8 mln share stake in Berkshire Hathaway's latest quarterly holdings filing (AAPL) : Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway disclosed holding 9.8 mln shares as of the end of Q1.

6:12 am Chipmos Technology secures ~$410.2 mln in new credit facilities (IMOS) :

The first credit line is an ~$257.9 mln, five-year, floating rate, secured, non-revolving credit line. The second is an ~$152.3 mln unsecured, floating rate, revolving credit line. Co expects to use the proceeds from the Credit Facility to refinance its existing bank debt and to provide additional working capital for general corporate purposes.