From Briefing.com: 4:30 pm : Listless and lackluster action kept participants on the sidelines as stocks consolidated their recent gains. A lack of market-moving headlines and other trading catalysts also made for minimal participation.
Investors and traders showed little willingness to step back into the stock market after it advanced more than 3% last week. In turn, hardly 900 million shares exchanged hands on the NYSE in what was this year's second-smallest level of volume.
In addition to the light trade, action was also rather quiet and stocks spent most of the session stuck in a narrow range. There were neither economic data nor corporate news items to act as movers.
However, Hewlett-Packard (HPQ 51.73, -0.30) did disappoint with its downward revision of first quarter earnings to $1.07 per share.
Despite the generally positive influence of merger and acquisition activity on the broader market, news that AIG (AIG 29.10, +1.02) offloaded its American Life Insurance Company to MetLife (MET 40.90, +1.98) in a $15.5 billion deal only seemed to help shares of insurers. Still, that kept the financial sector in positive territory for the entire session. Financials finished with a tepid 0.2% gain.
A bounce by the dollar also kept a cap on trade. The greenback had been down roughly 0.4% at its session low, but recovered to finish flat.
Despite the bland action in the broader market, the Nasdaq Composite was able to garner enough support to hit a fresh 52-week high. Research In Motion (RIMM 73.39, +3.89) was a primary leader after it was upgraded on Wall Street.
Advancing Sectors: Telecom (+1.1%), Consumer Discretionary (+0.4%), Tech (+0.3%), Financials (+0.2%)
Declining Sectors: Industrials (-0.5%), Health Care (-0.4%), Consumer Staples (-0.4%), Energy (-0.2%), Materials (-0.1%), Utilities (-0.1%)DJ30 -13.68 NASDAQ +5.86 NQ100 +0.1% R2K +0.2% SP400 +0.2% SP500 -0.20 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1443/2.19 bln/1246 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1792/905 mln/1249
7:15PM Diodes Incorporated raises Q1 2010 guidance (DIOD) 22.40 +0.28 : Co raises Q1 revs guidance to $134-138 mln vs. $134.6 mln consensus, up from $131-137 mln. The co is also raising its Q1 2010 gross margin guidance to 32.5-33.1% from its prior guidance of 32-33%. The co is raising revenue guidance due to continued strength in its global markets.
4:33PM Texas Instruments raises lower end of Q1 EPS and revs, in-line with consensus (TXN) 24.69 -0.28 : Co raises lower end of Q1 EPS to $0.48-0.52 vs. $0.49 First Call consensus, from $0.44-0.52; raises lower end of Q1 revs to $3.07-3.19 bln vs $3.08 bln consensus, from $2.95-3.19 bln prior guidance.
8:30AM Applied Materials announces increased cash dividend to $0.07 from $0.06 and $2 bln share repurchase authorization (AMAT) 12.29 : Co announces that its Board of Directors has approved a 17% increase in the quarterly cash dividend to $0.07 per share, payable on June 16, 2010 to stockholders of record as of May 26, 2010. Previously, the quarterly cash dividend was $0.06 per share. Applied's Board also approved a new stock repurchase program authorizing up to $2 billion in repurchases over the next three years ending in March 2013.
Altera (ALTR) announces that its Stratix IV FPGAs passed the Interlaken Alliance's device interoperability testing...
8:02AM Silicon Storage shareholders to receive $3.05/share in cash under newly amended merger agreement with Microchip (SSTI) 3.25 : Co announces that it entered into a second amendment to its Feb. 2, 2010 definitive agreement to acquire Silicon Storage Technology (SSTI). Under the revised terms, SSTI shareholders would be entitled to receive $3.05/share in cash compared to $3.00/share prior to the second amendment. This second amendment was in response to an offer made by another party to SSTI's Strategic Committee on March 2, 2010. Additionally, in connection with the amendment, MCHP is today purchasing directly from SSTI newly issued shares in an amount equal to 19.9% of the current issued and outstanding shares of the common stock of SST at $3.05/share in cash. In the event that MCHP's acquisition of SSTI is not consummated, MCHP has agreed that as a general matter, it will not use its voting rights to block a transaction that constitutes a superior proposal and the profits on its sales in such transaction will be limited. Furthermore, MCHP will have an option to sell its shares back to SSTI at $3.05 per share.
8:01AM RF Micro Device sees Q4 EPS of $0.11-0.12 vs $0.10 First Call consensus; revs $240-245 mln vs $231.79 mln First Call consensus (RFMD) 4.82 : The co now expects to generate quarterly revenue of approximately $240 million to $245 million (First Call Consensus $232 mln), which represents approximately 41% year-over-year growth at the midpoint of this updated outlook. As a result of the anticipated increase in revenue, RFMD expects to achieve non-GAAP quarterly earnings per share of approximately $0.11 to $0.12 (First Call Consensus $0.10). RFMD is experiencing broad-based strength in its core business this quarter, with current customer demand significantly outpacing original expectations in both the cellular products group and multi-market products group. RFMD is seeing particular strength in China and Korea and expects continued market share gains across leading cellular baseband providers and handset manufacturers this calendar year.
8:01AM Ciena announces proposed private sale of $250 mln in convertible senior notes due 2015 (CIEN) 16.01 :
3:37AM Advanced Semiconductor Engineering announces February 2010 unaudited consolidated net revenues increased 202% year/year to NT$ 12.98 bln; sequential change was +48.8% (ASX) 4.23 :
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