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From Briefing.com: 4:30 pm : The major equity averages chopped along listlessly all session as big gains from the prior session were allowed to consolidate.

Stocks lacked direction from the start of trade. Many opted to take a breather after the S&P 500 surged 1.8% in the prior session to settle comfortably above key psychological levels that had not been seen since mid-2008. The lack of participation made for sluggish action and low share volume, which failed to surpass 1 billion shares on the NYSE.

Only a muted response was made to the latest ADP Employment Change, which indicated that 187,000 private payrolls were added in January. The consensus among economists polled by Briefing.com had called for 145,000 private payroll additions. Data for the prior month was revised downward to reflect 247,000 private payroll additions, which is the greatest increase since 2006.

The latest round of earnings was generally shrugged off by the broader market, but Electronic Arts (ERTS 18.09, +2.47) attracted attention with its bottom line beat and share repurchase plan. The stock soared to an eight-month high and helped lift the tech sector to a 0.3% gain; tech was the only sector to stage a gain.

Semiconductor stocks also offered support to the tech sector. Their collective 0.5% gain came despite disappointment over the latest results from Broadcom (BRCM 43.79, -2.60).

As for other announcements, Whirlpool (WHR 83.60, -1.82) and AFLAC (AFL 57.10, -1.43) missed consensus earnings calls, but Boston Scientific (BSX 6.85, -0.28) and Time Warner (TWX 35.10, +2.79) both exceeded expectations. Time Warner also announced an 11% dividend increase.

Financials fell to a 0.9% loss. They were the worst performing sector after they had staged one of the strongest moves in the prior session. Multi-line insurers were particularly weak today. Hartford Financial (HIG 27.93, -0.82) fell hard ahead of its quarterly report.

Outside of equities, the dollar caught a slight bid after it had set a two-month low in the prior session. It was up just 0.1% against a collection of competing currencies at the end of the trading day.

Treasuries failed to attract sustainable support. They had been up a bit in the early going, but inevitably fell. The retreat resulted in a 3.50% yield on the benchmark 10-year Note for the first time since December and a 30-year Bond yield of 4.65%, which is its highest level since April. Selling among Treasuries accelerated after it was learned that dealers had wanted to sell more than six times the amount of issues that the Fed was willing to buy back. Pressure eased into the close, though.

Advancing Sectors: Tech (+0.3%)
Unchanged: Energy
Declining Sectors: Financials (-0.9%), Utilities (-0.5%), Telecom (-0.5%), Consumer Staples (-0.4%), Health Care (-0.4%), Materials (-0.3%), Industrials (-0.3%), Consumer Discretionary (-0.2%) DJ30 +1.81 NASDAQ -1.63 NQ100 -0.2% R2K -0.3% SP400 -0.2% SP500 -3.56 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1142/2.03 bln/1462 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1391/934 mln/1571

6:06PM Adobe recommends rejection of below-market mini-tender offer by TRC Capital Corp (ADBE) 33.43 -0.08 : Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) has been notified of an unsolicited "mini-tender" offer by TRC Capital Corp to purchase up to 3 million shares, or less than 0.58 percent, of outstanding Adobe common stock at a price of $32.00 per share in cash. TRC's offer price is approximately 4.53 percent less than the $33.52 closing price of Adobe common stock on Jan. 26, 2011, the day before the offer commenced.

4:31PM Cymer beats by $0.40, beats on revs; guides Q1 revs above consensus (CYMI) 50.01 +0.54 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $1.08 per share, $0.40 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.68; revenues rose 52.4% year/year to $146.9 mln vs the $143.6 mln consensus. Co issues upside guidance for Q1, sees Q1 revs of $150 mln vs. $148.14 mln Thomson Reuters consensus.

4:27PM Mattson misses by $0.06 (MTSN) 2.40 : Reports Q4 (Dec) ($0.16), $0.05 worse than the Thomson Reuters consensus of ($0.11); revenues fell 11.3% year/year to $41.3 mln vs the $40.9 mln consensus.

4:26PM Cadence Design beats by $0.03, beats on revs; guides Q1 EPS above consensus, revs in-line; guides FY11 EPS in-line, revs above consensus (CDNS) 8.83 +0.06 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.07 per share, $0.03 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.04; revenues rose 13.2% year/year to $249 mln vs the $237.9 mln consensus. Co issues mixed guidance for Q1, sees EPS of $0.06-0.08 vs. $0.06 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees Q1 revs of $225-265 mln vs. $241.63 mln Thomson Reuters consensus. Co issues mixed guidance for FY11, sees EPS of $0.30-0.40 vs. $0.35 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees FY11 revs of $1.03-1.07 bln vs. $1.02 bln Thomson Reuters consensus.

4:14PM Newport beats by $0.05, beats on revs; guides Q1 EPS in-line, revs in-line (NEWP) 18.84 +0.40 : Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.40 per share, $0.05 better than the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.35; revenues rose 30.9% year/year to $132.9 mln vs the $130.5 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for Q1, sees EPS of approx $0.28 vs. $0.29 Thomson Reuters consensus; sees Q1 revs of approx $123 mln vs. $123.18 mln Thomson Reuters consensus.

08:53 am BRCM Guides Q1 Revs In-line (BRCM)

Broadcom (BRCM $46.39) reported fourth quarter earnings of $0.58 per share, ex-$0.11 in non-recurring items, which may not be comparable to the Thomson Reuters consensus of $0.74; GAAP EPS of $0.47 versus GAAP consensus of $0.57.

Revenues rose 44.9% year-over-year to $1.95 billion versus the $1.9 billion consensus.

For the first quarter, the company expects to see revenues in the range of $1.75 billion to $1.85 billion versus the $1.8 billion Thomson Reuters consensus; with GAAP product gross margin flat from 49.4%, net of increased amortization of ~60 bps.

The company said, "Our record results, powerful balance sheet and strong operating cash flow enable us to increase our dividend by 12.5% and accelerate share repurchases, reflecting our continued commitment to returning capital to our shareholders. Looking ahead, we will focus on continuing to grow revenue faster than our peers and to gain share in our core markets, while maintaining financial discipline."