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From Briefing.com: 4:30 pm : A push against Citigroup and Apple mired the major equity averages for most of the session, but stocks managed to settle higher with varied gains that were good enough to make for fresh two-year closing highs.

The latest quarterly report from Citigroup (C 4.80, -0.33) came short of expectations on both the top and bottom line. Disappointment sent shares of the diversified financial giant to their steepest loss in more than six months.

Regional bank Comerica (CMA 37.84, -3.51) posted an impressive upside earnings surprise, but its shares were rejected in response to news that it will acquire Sterling Bank (SBIB 8.93, +1.23) for $10 per share, a 30% premium over its closing price last week.

Some support was provided to the financial sector by consumer finance plays following the publication of monthly card metrics from American Express (AXP 46.37, +0.12) and Discover Financial (DFS 20.74, +0.36). Results from the two companies were generally in line with what had been expected.

Ahead of its own quarterly report, Apple (AAPL 340.65, -7.83) shares were shunned in response to news that company Chief Executive Steve Jobs will take another medical leave of absence. The stock opened more than 6% lower, but losses were pared during the day. Shares of AAPL experienced some of the heaviest trading volume that they have seen in almost one year.

Leadership was lacking all session, but stocks still managed to grind to modest gains. In the end, advancing issues edged out decliners by 3-to-2 in the S&P 500.

Data wasn't very inspirational. The Empire State Manufacturing Survey improved to 11.9 for January. The consensus call among economists polled by Briefing.com was pegged at 12.0.

Net Long-Term Treasury International Capital Flows spiked in November to $85.1 billion from $28.9 billion in the prior month, but the data indicated that China's holdings of U.S. debt were lowered by little more than 1%.

Overseas data, another successful debt offering from Spain, and supportive comments about funding for the European recovery from Russia's finance minister all helped spur the euro and British pound higher against the greenback. The Dollar Index ended the trading day down by about 0.6%, which makes for its sixth loss in seven sessions.

Advancing Sectors: Energy (+0.7%), Materials (+0.6%), Industrials (+0.6%), Health Care (+0.4%), Tech (+0.3%), Consumer Discretionary (+0.3%), Utilities (+0.2%)
Unchanged: Consumer Staples
Declining Sectors: Financials (-0.8%), Telecom (-1.3%)DJ30 +50.55 NASDAQ +10.55 NQ100 +0.2% R2K +0.00% SP400 +0.9% SP500 +1.78 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1278/2.04 bln/1369 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1626/1.22 bln/1374

5:07PM Linear Tech beats by $0.04, beats on revs; guides Q3 revs below consensus (LLTC) 36.13 +0.26 : Reports Q2 (Dec) earnings of $0.62 per share, $0.04 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.58. Linear Tech sees Q3 revenue and earnings declining 6% to 10% sequentially. Co issues downside guidance for Q3, sees Q3 revs declining 6-10%, which calculates to ~$345.2-360.6 mln vs. $373.09 mln Thomson Reuters consensus.

4:33PM Apple beats by $1.04, beats on revs; guides Q2 EPS above consensus, revs above consensus (AAPL) 340.65 -7.83 : Reports Q1 (Dec) earnings of $6.43 per share, $1.04 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $5.39; revenues rose 70.5% year/year to $26.74 bln vs the $24.42 bln consensus. AAPL reports Q1 iPod sales of 19.45 mln compared to street expectations of ~17.7 mln. AAPL reports Q1 iPad sales of 7.33 mln compared to street expectations of ~6.3 mln. AAPL reports Q1 iPhone sales of 16.24 mln compared to street expectations of ~15.6 mln. AAPL reports Q1 Mac sales of 4.13 mln compared to street expectations of ~4.25 mln... Co issues upside guidance for Q2, sees EPS of $4.90 vs. $4.46 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees Q2 revs of $22 bln vs. $20.71 bln Thomson Reuters consensus. "We had a phenomenal holiday quarter with record Mac, iPhone and iPad sales... We are firing on all cylinders and we've got some exciting things in the pipeline for this year including iPhone 4 on Verizon which customers can't wait to get their hands on." AAPL shares are currently halted (no resumption time given yet).

4:17PM Western Digital beats by $0.38, beats on revs (WDC) 33.94 +0.50 : Reports Q2 (Dec) earnings of $0.96 per share, $0.38 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.58; revenues fell 5.5% year/year to $2.48 bln vs the $2.35 bln consensus. The co generated $505 million in cash from operations during the December quarter, ending with total cash and cash equivalents of $3.1 billion. "We are pleased to deliver better-than-expected revenues, profitability and gross margin in the December quarter, reflecting solid execution and an improvement in hard drive industry conditions compared with the prior two quarters."

4:15PM IBM beats by $0.10, beats on revs; guides FY11 EPS in-line with 2015 road map (IBM) 150.65 +0.65 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $4.18 per share, $0.10 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $4.08; revenues rose 6.6% year/year to $29.02 bln vs the $28.26 bln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for FY11, sees GAAP EPS of at least $12.56 vs. $12.58 Thomson Reuters consensus. IBM said that it expects to deliver full-year 2011 GAAP earnings per share of "at least $12.56; and operating (non-GAAP) earnings per share of at least $13.00, which puts the company on track for the 2015 road map of at least $20 of operating (non-GAAP) earnings per share." The 2011 operating (non-GAAP) earnings exclude $0.44 per share for the amortization of purchased intangible assets, other acquisition-related charges and certain retirement-related costs that the company has defined as non-operating. IBM's tax rate was 24.4%, down 0.2 points year over year. Net income margin increased 0.4 points to 18.1 percent. The Americas' fourth-quarter revenues were $12.2 billion, an increas 9 percent (9 percent, adjusting for currency) from the 2009 period. Revenues from Europe/Middle East/Africa were $9.5 billion, down 2 percent (up 4 percent, adjusting for currency). Asia-Pacific revenues increased 14 percent (7 percent, adjusting for currency) to $6.6 billion. OEM revenues were $784 million, up 21 percent compared with the 2009 fourth quarter.

4:03PM Cree misses by $0.03, misses on revs; guides Q3 EPS below consensus, revs below consensus (CREE) 62.71 -1.06 : Reports Q2 (Dec) earnings of $0.55 per share, $0.03 worse than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.58; revenues rose 28.8% year/year to $257 mln vs the $276.6 mln consensus. CREE reports Q2 operating margins 26.5% vs 27.3% Thomson Reuters consensus; Q1 31.3%. CREE reports Q2 gross margins of 47.1% vs 47.8% Thomson Reuters consensus; Q1 49.0%. Co issues downside guidance for Q3, sees EPS of $0.38-0.45 vs. $0.58 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees Q3 revs of $245-265 vs. $288.33 mln Thomson Reuters consensus. "Q2 results reflected continued growth in our LED lighting product line, but revenue and earnings were lower than our targets due primarily to lower sales to our LED component distributors in Asia... We are managing through an inventory correction in Asia in the near term, but the opportunity in LED lighting has not changed. Quarterly revenue increased 29% year-over-year and based on the market trends we are seeing, and the success of our own LED lighting business, we are more confident that we will see continued adoption of LED lighting over the next several years."

MIPS Technologies (MIPS) announced Realtek Semiconductor Corp., reaffirmed its long-time commitment to the MIPS architecture by licensing a broad range of MIPS32 processor cores.

8:18AM Citigroup misses by $0.04, misses on revs (C) 5.13 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.04 per share, $0.04 worse than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.08; revenues rose 133.1% year/year to $18.37 bln vs the $20.4 bln consensus. Fourth Quarter Included Negative CVA of $1.1 Billion Pre-Tax Due to Citi Spreads Tightening continued to wind down Citi Holdings in an economically rational manner, reducing assets by $128 billion in 2010 alone. Holdings' total assets have declined by more than half from their peak in 2008 to $359 billion and now stand at less than 20% of balance sheet. Tier 1 Common of $105 Billion, Tier 1 Common Ratio of 10.7%. Allowance for Loan Losses of $40.7 Billion. Net credit losses were $6.8 bln compared to $7.65 bln in the prior quarter. Net build was $2.2 bln compared to $1.9 bln in prior quarter. The net release of allowance for loan losses and unfunded lending commitments was $2.3 billion, compared to $2.0 billion in the prior quarter. The net reserve release in the current quarter consisted of $1.3 billion for consumer loans and $920 million for corporate loans and unfunded lending commitments. Expenses rose to $12.4 bgln compared to $11.5 bln in Q3. Citigroup expenses increased $951 million, or 8%, sequentially to $12.5 billion, reflecting the impact of foreign exchange3, higher legal and related expenses, severance, higher volumes in certain businesses, and continued investments in Citicorp businesses. Book value per share stands at $5.61 and tangible book value per share is $4.45. Citigroup's net interest margin was 2.97%, down from 3.09% in the third quarter 2010, mainly reflecting the impact of a reserve build related to Japan Consumer Finance, lower investment yields as Citi's substantial liquidity position was maintained, as well as a decline in loans in Citi Holdings. Citicorp revenues were $14.3 billion, down $2.0 billion, or 12%, from the third quarter 2010. Growth in Latin America and Asia revenues, up 5% and 2%, respectively, was offset by declines in EMEA and North America, down 30% and 21%, respectively.

8:04AM Chipmos Technology announces December and Q4 revenue (no ests) (IMOS) 1.77 : Co reports December rev +9% QoQ and 19% YoY to $52.2 mln. On a quarterly basis, revenue for the fourth quarter of 2010 was NT$4,322.6 million or US$148.3 million, a decrease of 8.4% from the third quarter of 2010 and an increase of 20.4% from the same period in 2009. Fourth quarter revenue is consistent with overall semiconductor market trends and inline with prior guidance provided on November 15, 2010 for 4Q10 revenue indicating a decline by approximately 6% to 12% compared to 3Q10.

Rudolph Technologies (RTEC) announced that it will collaborate with a leading process tool supplier and an IC device manufacturer in the development of 3D advanced semiconductor packaging applications.

* Micrel (MCRL) launched the KSZ8895/8875/8864 series. The devices are low-power, highly integrated, 4/5-port Layer-2 switch-on-a-chip ICs.