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From Briefing.com: 4:15 pm : Equities began today's session slightly higher before receiving an additional boost from positive consumer confidence data. Despite the upbeat data, stocks were unable to maintain the bullish tone as the major averages slipped into negative territory around midday. Stocks then extended their slide which also coincided with weakness in crude oil and the euro. The selling was broad-based, but financials, materials, industrials, and technology were among the worst performers. As a result, the S&P 500 ended lower by 1.1%.

Broadly speaking, today's weakness may have been a reflection of some end-of-quarter profit taking as the S&P has added 6.2% over the last three months and 15.0% since the start of the year. Additionally, the inability to sustain a rally after the strong confidence number may have exposed the idea the market is probably overbought short-term, and certainly in the face of weakening fundamentals.

Health care stocks were the top performer as the risk-off trade was today's theme. Neogen (NEOG 42.83, +2.83) jumped 7.1% after reporting mixed earnings. The company beat on earnings, while revenues fell $1 million short of estimates.

A handful of health care stocks moved on news. DARA BioSciences (DARA 1.15, +0.07) closed higher by 6.5% after announcing the establishment of a vertically integrated commercial platform for specialty oncology care and support products. Meanwhile, Genetic Technologies (GENE 3.60, +0.25) spiked 7.5% after the company announced its BREVAGen has been cleared for sale in the state of Florida. Lastly, Sinovac (SVA 2.68, +0.19) surged 7.6% after being awarded tenders in Beijing and Shanghai to supply inactivated Hepatitis-A vaccine under an expanded immunization program.

The technology sector was generally weaker as its biggest component, Apple (AAPL 673.54, -17.25) settled lower by 2.5%.

Cognex (CGNX 34.70, -3.25) fell 8.6% after Piper Jaffray downgraded the shares of from ‘neutral' to ‘underweight' while also lowering the price target from $30 to $27.

Paychex (PAYX 33.41, -0.97) slipped 2.8% despite beating on earnings and reporting in-line revenues. In addition, the company reaffirmed its full-year 2013 guidance. Following the report, Citigroup and UBS downgraded the company. Citigroup cut Paychex from ‘neutral' to ‘sell' while UBS lowered its rating from ‘buy' to ‘neutral.'

German semiconductor maker, Infineon Technology (IFNNY 6.60, -0.43) slid 6.1% after the company lowered its fourth and first quarter guidance. The management also said it will define and implement measures to improve future profitability. Details regarding these measures will be announced at the company's annual press conference on November 14, 2012.

The lower guidance weighed on other semiconductor producers. Atmel (ATML 5.46, -0.45) lost 7.6%, while STMicroelectronics (STM 5.66, -0.22) and Texas Instruments (TXN 27.83, -0.85) shed between 3.0% and 3.7%.

The Dow Jones Transportation Average underperformed as the bellwether group finished lower by 0.9%. Despite weakness in the space, two names saw notable outperformance. Shipper Matson (MATX 20.73, +0.21) led the complex, up 1.0%. Meanwhile, CH Robinson (CHRW 59.04, +0.47) advanced 0.8% after announcing the planned acquisition of Phoenix International for $571.5 million in cash and $63.5 million in newly-issued CH Robinson stock.

Railroad outperformed in the early going. However, the afternoon selling pressure pushed the group lower. Norfolk Southern (NSC 65.07, -1.21) slid 1.8% while Union Pacific (UNP 120.38, -0.73), CSX (CSX 21.17, -0.19) and Kansas City Southern (KSU 76.36, -0.72) all lost between 0.6% and 0.9%.

The latest consumer confidence reading for September came in at 70.3 when economists were expecting a reading of 63.0. Today's number followed prior month's 65.9 print.

The July Case-Shiller 20-city Home Price Index rose 1.2% when a 0.8% increase had been generally expected. This comes against a prior month's reading of 0.5%.

Separately, the latest Housing Price Index from the FHFA was also just released. For July, the Index increased by 0.2%, which follows a 0.7% increase in the prior month.

In tomorrow's economic data, the weekly MBA Mortgage Index will be reported at 7:00 ET, while new home sales will cross the wires at 10:00 ET.

The U.S. Treasury will auction off $35 billion in 5-yr notes.DJ30 -101.30 NASDAQ -43.05 SP500 -15.30 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 669/1.91 bln/1847 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 811/755.8 mln/2244

3:30 pm : Crude oil rose to a pit session high of $93.10 per barrel on heightened Iran tensions over new sanctions and reports of Iran firing test missiles. However, prices tumbled into the red as Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser stated that the latest QE3 will not cure friction in labor markets and that the easing will be ineffective. Crude sold off to a session low of $91.06 per barrel and settled at $91.37 per barrel for a 0.6% loss.

Natural gas dipped to a session low of $3.05 per MMBtu moments after pit trade opened. Despite trading in a fairly consolidative pattern near the $3.07 per MMBtu level for most of the session, a rally heading into the close pushed prices higher to $3.11 per MMBtu for a 2.3% gain.

Gold erased its early gains as a sell-off prompted by options expiration took prices back to the unchanged level. The yellow metal popped to a session high of $1770.90 per ounce in morning action but quickly fell into negative territory as it headed into afternoon floor trade. It inched slightly higher after brushing a session low of $1762.80 per ounce and managed to settle with a 0.1% gain at $1766.60 per ounce.

Silver climbed to a session high of $34.54 per ounce moments after floor trade opened but lost steam in afternoon trade. It dipped to a session low of $33.80 per ounce and eventually closed 0.1% lower at $33.94 per ounce.DJ30 -73.30 NASDAQ -31.27 SP500 -10.94 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 805/1549.0 mln/1677 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 917/453 mln/2089

4:32PM IBM: Virginia M. Rometty elected Chairman (IBM) 204.98 -0.31 : The IBM board of directors today elected Virginia M. Rometty chairman of the board, effective October 1, 2012. Mrs. Rometty succeeds Samuel J. Palmisano, who is stepping down from the board effective October 1, 2012. Mrs. Rometty, 55, is currently IBM's president and chief executive officer.

4:06PM Jabil Circuit misses by $0.04, beats on revs; guides Q1 EPS below consensus, revs below consensus; authorizes $100 mln share repurchase program (JBL) 20.97 -0.40 : Reports Q4 (Aug) earnings of $0.54 per share, $0.04 worse than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.58; revenues rose 1.4% year/year to $4.34 bln vs the $4.22 bln consensus. Co issues downside guidance for Q1, sees EPS of $0.51-0.62 vs. $0.67 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q1 revs of $4.3-4.5 bln vs. $4.51 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate. "Results for the fourth quarter were negatively impacted by a challenging new program ramp in our Specialized Services sector...Additionally demand remained weak in most of our business segments." Management also announced that the Jabil Board of Directors has authorized the repurchase of up to $100 million worth of shares of the Company's common stock during the next twelve months.

4:01PM MEMC Elec announces termination of Conergy Wafer Supply Agreement; receive payment of $21.2 million through the irrevocable letter of credit (WFR) 2.82 -0.15 : Co announced that it and its subsidiary, MEMC Singapore Pte. Ltd., have agreed with Conergy AG to terminate their long-term solar wafer supply agreement. Under the terms of the supply agreement, originally signed in October 2007, MEMC was to supply solar wafers to Conergy pursuant to pre-set pricing over a 10-year period on a take or pay basis. As part of the agreement, Conergy advanced funds to MEMC in the form of a refundable capacity reservation deposit and also provided a letter of credit to secure the take-or-pay obligations. Since the market downturn in early 2009, issues with respect to Conergy's price and volume purchase obligations under the supply agreement have created challenges to finding a mutually beneficial arrangement between the parties, leading to a reduction in the size of the supply agreement in January 2010.

The companies have now agreed to terminate the supply agreement. Pursuant to a termination agreement executed today, MEMC will receive payment of $21.2 million through the irrevocable letter of credit established by Conergy under the wafer supply agreement. MEMC will refund to Conergy the refundable capacity reservation deposit currently held by MEMC in an approximately equal amount. Conergy will also make payments on outstanding payables in the amount of $5.5 million. In addition, Conergy has agreed to transfer to MEMC Conergy's portfolio of operations and maintenance contracts covering solar power plants in Germany, Italy and Spain representing up to approximately 175 megawatts. There can be no assurance that the parties will conclude this transfer successfully.

4:01PM Universal Display contracts with Duksan Hi-Metal to provide manufacturing services for OLED host material in Korea (PANL) 35.63 -0.59 : Universal Display (PANL) and Duksan Hi-Metal Company announced that the companies have entered into a master services agreement to enhance Universal Display's local presence and expansion in Korea. As the first initiative under the agreement, Duksan will provide manufacturing services for one of Universal Display's host products for certain Korean customers. Universal Display and Duksan will also explore additional areas for collaboration to better serve and support the needs of the growing Korean OLED industry.

8:01AM Axcelis Tech lands global support solutions contract for leading chip manufacturer valued at $30 mln (ACLS) 1.11 : Co announces that it has signed a 5 year, comprehensive global support contract with one of the world's leading semiconductor manufacturers valued at $30 mln. Co will support a full suite of Axcelis implant, cleaning and thermal processing equipment at multiple fabs in the U.S.

09:08 am Super Micro Computer initiated with a Buy at Wunderlich; tgt $17: . Wunderlich initiates SMCI with a Buy and price target of $17 as demand for high-performance computing continues to outpace that of the broader server market, they believe SMCI's broad-based portfolio uniquely positions it as a primary beneficiary of this trend. They believe the stock's recent decline off April highs is largely the result of a number of external issues that have now been largely resolved, in their opinion, presenting investors with an attractive opportunity to acquire shares at current levels.

10:56 am Technology Sector trading higher today slightly underperforming the overall market

The tech sector is trading slightly higher today, trailing larger gains in the broader market. Semiconductors are showing relative weakness with the SOX trading 0.1% lower. Within the chip index, STM (-2.6%) is a notable laggard. Among other major indices, the SPY is trading 0.3% higher today, while the QQQ is up 0.3% and the NASDAQ is trading 0.4% higher on the session. Among tech bellwethers, GOOG (+1.4%) is once again showing notable strength, while ORCL (-0.7%) is under pressure. In tech earnings last night, PAYX (-2.9%) posted a slight Q1 beat, while RHT (-2.4%) reported a modest Q2 miss. RHT also offered guidance just below consensus. This morning, FDS (-4.5%) posted a slight Q4 beat and issued inline guidance. Also, IFNNY (-6.5%) issued downside guidance. In news, the US PTO grants VRNG (+0.9%) a patent for Mobile video dating service.

Among rumors, we are hearing renewed takeover chatter on JIVE (+0.6%). In notable analyst upgrades this morning in the tech space, TIVO (+4.2%) was upgraded to Buy at Lazard. Among downgrades, PAYX (-2.9%) was downgraded at Citi and UBS, CGNX (-5.9%) was downgraded to Underweight at Piper, CSGS (-1.8%) was downgraded to Neutral at Citigroup, AXE (-3.9%) was downgraded to Underperform at Credit Suisse, ADP (-1.1%) was downgraded to Neutral at UBS, NOK (+0.7%) was downgraded to Underperform at BMO and LPL (-1.6%) was downgraded to Mkt Perform at Bernstein. JBL (+1.0%) and SNX (+0.4%) are the only notable names in tech scheduled to report quarterly results today after the close.