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From Briefing.com: 4:15 pm : Following a mostly uneventful, range-bound trading day, equities saw a late afternoon push to session lows. The major averages saw a notable divergence as the Dow slipped 0.4% while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq slid 0.6% and 1.0%, respectively.

The Dow Jones Transportation Average outperformed the broader market as most components posted gains. Airlines United Continental (UAL 20.06, +0.36) and Delta (DAL 9.38, +0.10) ended higher by 1.8% and 1.1%, respectively. Meanwhile, trucking stocks also showed strength. JB Hunt (JBHT 52.16, +0.51) and Con-way (CNW 29.98, +0.38) both gained near 1.0%.

Technology stocks lagged as major names within the space traded lower. Intel (INTC 23.26, -0.93) slid 3.8% as it remained under pressure after lowering its guidance on Friday. However, Intel's peer, AMD (AMD 3.47, +0.02) gained 0.6% after Goldman upgraded the shares from ‘sell' to ‘neutral.' In addition, major networking stocks showed weakness. F5 Networks (FFIV 96.63, -3.64) finished lower by 3.6%, while Cisco (CSCO 19.15, -0.41) slid 2.1%. Elsewhere, two tech giants traded near their respective all-time highs. Apple (AAPL 662.74, -17.70) marked a fresh all-time best at $683.29, but reversed into negative territory and ended down 2.6%. Meanwhile, Google (GOOG 700.77, -5.38) shed 0.8% as it nears its all-time high of $714.87.

Shares listed in the materials space advanced as names within the sector benefited from China's plan to increase infrastructure spending. Companies specializing in construction materials were led by Martin Marietta (MLM 84.18, +3.05) which added 3.8% after being upgraded from ‘equal weight' to ‘overweight' at Stephens. Meanwhile, Vulcan (VMC 41.44, +1.09) and Headwaters (HW 7.38, +0.43) advanced 2.7% and 6.2%, respectively.

Four paper and packaging producers slumped after receiving downgrades from Deutsche Bank. Rock-Tenn (RKT 66.97, -3.37), International Paper (IP 34.97, -1.51), Packaging Corp of America (PKG 32.44, -0.83), and KapStone (KS 20.75, -0.47) all lost between 2.0% and 5.0% on the news. The downgrade took place after the stocks went on a sharp rally in anticipation of a price increase in the fall. Deutsche Bank is skeptical as to the true ability of the producers to implement and maintain the said price hikes.

Casino and gaming stocks were mostly higher after Nevada Gaming Control Board reported July Las Vegas Strip revenues increased by 27.5% year-over-year. Boyd Gaming (BYD 6.32, +0.21), Isle of Capri Casinos (ISLE 6.42, +0.14), MGM Resorts (MGM 10.92, +0.22), and Wynn Resorts (WYNN 103.09, +0.35) added between 0.3% and 3.5%. Meanwhile, Caesars (CZR 7.10, -0.12), and Las Vegas Sands (LVS 43.41, -0.89) started the session in the black but ended lower by 1.7% and 2.0%, respectively.

According to the Federal Reserve, consumer credit decreased by $3.3 billion in July. This follows the prior month's reading of $6.5 billion, and is lower than the $10.0 billion that had been broadly expected among economists polled by Briefing.com.

Tomorrow's economic data is limited to July trade balance which will be reported at 8:30 ET.DJ30 -52.35 NASDAQ -32.40 SP500 -8.84 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1006/1.53 bln/1448 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1194/616.1 mln/1802

3:35 pm : Crude oil spent most of its pit trade chopping around in negative territory. The energy component slid to a session low of $95.34 per barrel in morning action. It then broke into positive territory but quickly fell back into the red. However, buyers stepped in as crude oil headed into the close and pushed prices up such that it closed 0.1% higher at $96.53 per barrel.

Natural gas came off its floor session low of $2.69 per MMBtu and inched higher for its entire session. A rally in the last half hour of pit trade took prices as high as $2.84 per MMBtu and had natural gas settle with a 4.9% gain at $2.81 per MMBtu. A stronger dollar and weak Chinese trade data put pressure on precious metals during today's pit session.

Gold spent its entire session in the red, dipping as low as $1729.20 per ounce. It settled slightly above that level at $1731.70 per ounce for a 0.5% loss. Silver came off its session low of $33.42 per ounce and briefly poked into positive territory where it touched a session high of $33.87 per ounce. Unable to hold on to the momentum, the metal fell back into the red and settled 0.3% lower at $33.63 per ounce.DJ30 -26.41 NASDAQ -27.87 SP500 -6.10 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1083/1276.2 mln/1366 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1314/403 mln/1648

4:09PM First Solar confirms Agua Caliente solar project achieved a peak generating capacity of 250 MW AC; expected to be complete on schedule in 2014 (FSLR) 20.79 +0.35 :

4:06PM Agilent prices $400 mln of senior notes; notes will mature in Oct 2022 and will bear interest at an annual rate of 3.20% (A) 38.26 -0.16 : Co announced the pricing of a series of its senior notes in an aggregate principal amount of $400 million, in an underwritten, registered public offering. The notes will mature in October 2022 and will bear interest at an annual rate of 3.20 percent. The offering is expected to close on September 13, 2012, subject to customary closing conditions.

2:14PM The S&P is down 0.2% with technology as the weakest performing sector (SPY) :
Sector Ticker % Change YTD % Change
Technology XLK -0.5% 21%
Industrials XLI -0.2% 9%
Financials XLF -0.2% 20%
Health Care XLV -0.1% 14%
Cons. Staples XLP 0.0% 10%
Energy XLE 0.1% 6%
Utilities XLU 0.2% 2%
Cons. Disc. XLY 0.3% 20%
Materials XLB 0.5% 11%
Telecom IYZ 0.5% 19%

8:31AM Fairchild Semi Appoints Vijay Ullal President and Chief Operating Officer (FCS) 15.00 : Co announces that Vijay Ullal has been appointed President and COO. He has 30 years of experience in the semiconductor industry including engineering and operations leadership positions at Intel (INTC), Saratoga Semiconductor and most recently, Maxim Integrated Products (MXIM). Ullal spent the last five years as Group President, Consumer Solutions Division driving strong sales growth in their mobile, consumer and automotive businesses.

Veeco Instruments (VECO) announced that Nantong Tongfang Semiconductor has received shipment of Veeco's TurboDisc K465i MOCVD System for research of GaN-on-Si high brightness light emitting diodes. The system was delivered to Tongfang's new LED Technology Center in Nantong, China.

8:02AM Ramtron unanimously concludes Cypress' (CY) revised unsolicited tender offer is inadequate; Board unanimously recommends stockholders not tender their shares (RMTR) 2.82 : Co announced that its Board of Directors has carefully reviewed the revised unsolicited tender offer from Cypress Semiconductor (CY) to acquire all outstanding stock of Ramtron at a price of $2.88 per share in cash, in consultation with its financial and legal advisors, and unanimously concluded that the revised offer is inadequate, does not reflect the intrinsic value of the Company, and is not in the best interest of Ramtron and its stockholders. Therefore, the Board unanimously recommends that Ramtron stockholders reject the revised offer and not tender their shares into the revised offer.

7:58AM Western Digital announces that Steve Milligan will become CEO of the co on Jan 2, 2013, succeeding John Coyne, who is retiring on that same date (WDC) 41.86 : Milligan is currently president of Western Digital and will retain the title of president when he becomes CEO. Following Coyne's retirement, Milligan will be appointed to the Western Digital board of directors.

7:01AM Mellanox Tech announces retirement of Michael Gray and names Jacob Shulman as CFO in planned transition; Transition to be effective on November 5, 2012 (MLNX) 110.85 : Co announced that Michael Gray, the Company's CFO, will retire from his current position effective November 5, 2012. Gray has served as the Company's CFO since December 2004. Today, the Company also announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Jacob Shulman, Mellanox's vice president of finance, as the Company's new CFO, effective November 5, 2012. The transition process in the finance department from Gray to Shulman's leadership will commence immediately, and Gray's day-to-day employment with the Company will continue until February 4, 2013. Gray has no plans to join another company in a similar CFO capacity and intends to spend more time with his family in Oregon.

09:19 am Seagate Tech downgraded to Hold at Argus: . Argus downgrades STX to Hold from Buy saying the STX shares are approaching their 12-month target price of $34, but their deeper concern is the deterioration in the PC market. Firm notes PC sales worldwide were flat in 2Q12 year-over-year and down 2% sequentially, and the 3Q12 guidance reduction from Intel signals further declines ahead.

10:38 am Tech Sector trading lower today, and behind the broader market

The tech sector is trading lower today, trailing slight gains in the broader market. Semiconductors are showing relative weakness as well with the SOX trading 0.6% lower. Within the chip index, STM (-2.9%) is a notable laggard. Among other major indices, the SPY is trading 0.04% higher today, while the QQQ and the NASDAQ are trading 0.3% lower on the session. Among tech bellwethers, INTC (-2.6%) is showing notable weakness. In news, MLNX (-10.3%) announced the retirement of its CFO.

In notable analyst upgrades this morning in the tech space, S (+4.2%) was upgraded to Buy at Nomura and AMD (+2.6%) was upgraded to Neutral at Goldman. Among downgrades, ERIC (-0.3%) was downgraded to Neutral at UBS, DOX (-1.0%) was downgraded to Hold at Jefferies and Argus downgraded STX (-0.8%) to Hold. PANW (+1.2%) is the only notable name in tech scheduled to report quarterly results today after the close.