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From Briefing.com: 4:30 pm : Stocks were able to overcome a weak start, but their advance ran into resistance and rolled over late in the session. However, the slide was stopped short as support was secured at the lows set last week.

Premarket selling pressure made for a lower start to the session as participants showed a moderately negative reaction to steep losses in Asia, where China's regulators followed through with plans to raise reserve requirements at select banks and Japan's sovereign debt was put on a negative outlook from Standard & Poor's. A subsequent flight to quality boosted the buck, which didn't help the early tone of trade either.

However, stocks were able to garner some midmorning support with the release of the latest Consumer Confidence Index, which climbed to 55.9 in January from 53.6 in December. Not only did the January reading exceed the 53.5 that had been widely expected, but it also marked the highest reading in more than one year.

Though there is no empirical evidence that connects consumer confidence with higher spending and, in turn, higher profits for retailers, retailers steadily outperformed the broader market and finished with a 0.6% gain.

Tech emerged to trade with considerable strength for most of the session, thanks to Apple (AAPL 205.94, +2.87), which posted upside earnings and a strong forecast. Support for the stock had been constrained initially as it was learned that accounting changes played a part in Apple's numbers, but the stock was able to brush that aside.

Apple's leadership helped take the Nasdaq Composite and the Nasdaq 100 markedly higher, but the two averages ran into resistance at their 50-day moving averages, which were violated during last week's retreats. Meanwhile, the broad-based S&P 500 struggled to make much of a move past the psychologically-significant 1100 line. Failure to extend gains inevitably gave way to selling.

The late afternoon slide took tech back to the neutral line after it had been up as much as 1.3%. Texas Instruments (TXN 23.35, -0.34) was among the sector's primary laggards; participants sold news of the company's positive earnings surprise after the shares had spiked 2.5% in the session before the announcement.

Dow components Johnson & Johnson (JNJ 62.79, -0.43) and Verizon (VZ 30.17, -0.51) were also sold despite better-than-expected earnings of their own.

Fellow Dow component Travelers (TRV 50.23, +1.34) managed to garner support amid its upside surprise, but it couldn't keep the financial sector from falling in afternoon action. Weakness among specialized finance companies (-4.4%) dragged the sector to a 1.7% loss after it had been up as much as 1.0%.

Advancing Sectors: Utilities (+0.4%), Consumer Discretionary (+0.1%)
Declining Sectors: Financial (-1.7%), Telecom (-1.2%), Materials (-1.1%), Energy (-0.5%), Health Care (-0.4%), Industrials (-0.1%)
Unchanged: Consumer Staples, TechDJ30 -2.57 NASDAQ -7.07 NQ100 +0.1% R2K -1.0% SP400 -0.4% SP500 -4.61 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 869/2.39 bln/1797 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1092/1.12 bln/1943

5:41PM STMicroelectronics beats by $0.02, reports revs in-line; guides Q1 revs above consensus (STM) 8.50 +0.05 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.04 per share, $0.02 better than the First Call consensus of $0.02; revenues rose 13.5% year/year to $2.58 bln vs the $2.56 bln consensus. Co issues upside guidance for Q1, sees Q1 revs down 7-13%, which equates to ~$2.24-2.39 bln vs. $2.23 bln consensus.

4:35PM QLogic beats by $0.02, beats on revs (QLGC) 18.89 -0.43 : Reports Q3 (Dec) earnings of $0.31 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.02 better than the First Call consensus of $0.29; revenues fell 8.9% year/year to $149.1 mln vs the $147.3 mln consensus.

4:24PM Altera trading almost a point higher after earnings on decent volume, testing the recent highs at $22.25 (ALTR) 21.19 : Last trade at $22.06

4:21PM Altera beats by $0.05, beats on revs; guides Q1 revs above consensus (ALTR) 21.19 -0.14 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.34 per share, $0.05 better than the First Call consensus of $0.29; revenues rose 16.1% year/year to $365 mln vs the $334.9 mln consensus. Co issues upside guidance for Q1, sees Q1 sequential revs growth of 5-10%, which equates to ~$383.3-401.50 mln vs. $338.54 mln consensus. Co said, "The Q4 produced extraordinary growth driven by customer program ramps and better end demand across all of our markets. Our new products were the growth leaders in a quarter that saw sequential improvements across all product and market segment categories. We believe that in 2010 our 40-nm product leadership will create an additional growth driver for the co as customers shift from the prototype stage to production-based demand."

4:15PM Concurrent beats by $0.14, beats on revs (CCUR) 3.89 0.00 : Reports Q2 (Dec) earnings of $0.01 per share, $0.14 better than the First Call consensus of ($0.13); revenues fell 17.1% year/year to $15 mln vs the $12.5 mln consensus. Gross margins for the second quarter of fiscal year 2010 were 62%, compared to 59% in the prior year's second quarter.

4:12PM Sanmina-SCI beats by $0.10, beats on revs; guides Q2 EPS above consensus, revs above consensus (SANM) 12.30 +0.65 : Reports Q1 (Dec) earnings of $0.23 per share, $0.10 better than the First Call consensus of $0.13; revenues rose 9.2% year/year to $1.48 bln vs the $1.4 bln consensus. Co issues upside guidance for Q2, sees EPS of $0.22-$0.27, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.09 consensus; sees Q2 revs of $1.45 bln-$1.55 bln vs. $1.36 bln consensus.

4:07PM RF Micro Device beats by $0.02, reports revs in-line (RFMD) 4.27 +0.06 : Reports Q3 (Dec) earnings of $0.14 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.02 better than the First Call consensus of $0.12; revenues rose 23.9% year/year to $250.3 mln vs the $251.6 mln consensus. Non-GAAP gross margin increased sequentially from 38.1% to 38.4%. RFMD is enjoying strength in CPG, supported by strong calendar 2010 handset unit forecasts, expanded participation across customer programs and increasing adoption of connected devices, including smart phones and 3G devices. In the diversified markets served by MPG, RFMD continues to see positive demand trends supported by increasing customer order activity. Co sees CPG quarterly revenue is expected to be better than normal seasonality in the March quarter. In MPG, quarterly revenue is expected to be flat to up sequentially in the March quarter. Non-GAAP operating margin for the fiscal 2010 full-year period is expected to approach RFMD's annual target of 15%. RFMD expects strong free cash flow, in-line with recent quarterly performances. "For fiscal 2011, we expect a contribution margin of approximately 60% on each incremental dollar of revenue, and we believe we're on track to deliver continued revenue and earnings growth in fiscal 2011 and beyond."

4:03PM Integrated Device beats by $0.01, beats on revs (IDTI) 6.45 +0.00 : Reports Q3 (Dec) earnings of $0.10 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.01 better than the First Call consensus of $0.09; revenues fell 14.7% year/year but rose 2.1% sequentially to $142.5 mln vs the $140.5 mln consensus.

4:02PM Molex beats by $0.02, beats on revs; guides Q3 EPS above consensus, revs above consensus (MOLX) 20.89 +0.07 : Reports Q2 (Dec) earnings of $0.24 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.02 better than the First Call consensus of $0.22; revenues rose 9.4% year/year to $729.6 mln vs the $709.2 mln consensus. Co issues upside guidance for Q3, sees EPS of $0.22-0.26, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.19 consensus; sees Q3 revs of $715-735 mln vs. $691.38 mln consensus.

Microsemi Corporation (MSCC) announces that it has partnered with specialty foundry provider MagnaChip Semiconductor LLC to develop advanced mixed-signal process technology that is optimized for products in Microsemi's key commercial growth markets...

8:02AM Chipmos Technology unit entered into a definitive Transfer Of Claim Agreement to sell to Citigroup Financial Products (IMOS) 0.75 : Co announced that ChipMOS TECHNOLOGIES, a wholly owned subsidiary of ChipMOS, has entered into a definitive Transfer Of Claim Agreement to sell to Citigroup Financial Products the general unsecured claim reflected in the proof of claim against Spansion, Spansion Technology, Spansion, Spansion International and Cerium Laboratories filed by ChipMOS Taiwan in United States Bankruptcy Court. The claim that is the subject of the Agreement includes accounts receivable for testing and assembly services provided to Spansion in the amount of approximately US$66 million to US$70 million (the "Undisputed Claim"). The purchase price for the Undisputed Claim is approximately US$33 million.

7:30AM Am Superconductor: China's XJ Group orders initial 100 sets of wind turbine core electrical components from AMSC (AMSC) 37.17 : Co announces that it has received an initial order for 100 sets of wind turbine core electrical components from China's XJ Group. The components will be deployed in 2 megawatt doubly fed induction wind turbines that were co-developed with AMSC Windtec, a wholly owned subsidiary of AMSC.

6:58AM Corning beats by $0.02, beats on revs (GLW) 18.72 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.44 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.02 better than the First Call consensus of $0.42; revenues rose 41.3% year/year to $1.53 bln vs the $1.45 bln consensus. Co said, "Our economic assumptions for 2010 include a mild recovery in the developed world economies and continued growth in China. Clearly we don't have a crystal ball that can guarantee this outlook will come true, so we will be cautious on spending and prepared to be nimble if we see changes... We expect the overall display glass market to be up in the first quarter versus our original expectation of lower seasonal demand... and we believe the supply chain will need to continue to expand to support another year of good retail growth for LCD products."

09:34 am Texas Instruments (TXN)

Texas Instruments (TXN 23.69) reported better-than-expected fourth quarter earnings and issued upside guidance for the first quarter, saying that demand continues to be solid.

Texas Instruments reported fourth quarter earnings of $0.52 per share, $0.03 better than the First Call consensus of $0.49.

Revenues rose 20.6% year-over-year to $3 billion, in-line with the $2.98 billion consensus.

"In the fourth quarter, demand was strong across end markets without the usual holiday slowdown. Throughout, we believe customer and channel inventories have been lean," said CEO Rich Templeton. "With demand continuing to be solid and inventories well below historical levels, our outlook for the first quarter reflects the likelihood of sequential growth instead of the typical seasonal decline."

Texas Instruments issued upside guidance for its first quarter, saying it expects earnings of $0.44 to $0.52 per share, ahead of the current consensus estimate that calls for $0.43. The company expects revenues to range from $2.95 billion to $3.19 billion, also ahead of the current consensus estimate of $2.83 billion.

08:36 am Apple (AAPL)

Apple (AAPL 203.07) reported fiscal first quarter earnings and revenues that easily beat expectations on strong Mac sales. The company also issued upside guidance for the second quarter.

Apple reported fiscal first quarter earnings of $3.67 per share, $1.60 better than the First Call consensus estimate of $2.07.

Revenues rose 32.0% year-over-year to $15.68 billion, easily topping the $12.06 billion consensus estimate.

Apple reported sales of 3.36 million Macs during the quarter, better than the Wall Street estimate of 3 million. Apple sold 21 million iPods (vs. Street estimate 22 million) and 8.7 million iPhones (vs. Street estimate of 9 million).

Apple said that during the quarter it elected retrospective adoption of the Financial Accounting Standards Board's amended accounting standards related to certain revenue recognition. Adoption of the new accounting standards significantly changes how the company accounts for certain items, particularly sales of iPhone and Apple TV.

The new accounting principles result in the company's recognition of substantially all of the revenue and product cost for iPhone and Apple TV when those products are delivered to customers. Under historical accounting principles, the company was required to account for sales of both iPhone and Apple TV using subscription accounting.

Looking ahead to its fiscal second quarter, Apple said it expects earnings of $2.06 to $2.18 per share, well ahead of the current consensus estimate of $1.77. Apple expects Q2 revenues to range from $11.0 billion to $11.4 billion; the consensus estimate calls for $10.37 billion.

Shares of AAPL are down just over 4% an hour ahead of Tuesday's opening bell.