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From Briefing.com: 4:10 pm : Today's session was confined to a narrow range as the S&P 500 opened near its flat line, and spent the entire day within points of the unchanged level. At midday, Bloomberg TV aired an interview with President Obama, but his remarks were in-line with recent statements. The market did not receive notable economic data and sentiment-driving headlines were limited as well. As such, the benchmark index ended the choppy day with a loss of 0.2%.

Technology stocks underperformed the broader market and the SPDR Technology Select Sector ETF (XLK 29.04, -0.05) slipped 0.2%. Apple (AAPL 575.84, -10.34) weighed on the sector and settled lower by 1.8%.

Even though tech stocks were generally weak, semiconductor manufacturers outperformed. The PHLX Semiconductor Index gained 0.7% and bellwether Intel (INTC 19.92, +0.38) advanced 2.0%.

Elsewhere, Netflix (NFLX 82.32, +6.32) surged 8.3% after the company announced a multi-year premium pay-TV window agreement with Walt Disney (DIS 49.30, +0.01). Besides lifting Netflix to session highs, the announcement had a negative impact on Coinstar (CSTR 47.37, +0.39) and Liberty Media (LMCA 105.56, -5.49). The two names fell to their respective lows as investors considered the possibility of increased competition. Coinstar is the operator of Redbox video rental kiosks. The stock was able to shake-off the intraday weakness, and close higher by 0.8%. Meanwhile, Liberty Media, which holds a stake in Starz and Encore, recovered a portion of its losses and ended lower by 4.9%.

The consumer discretionary sector lagged as weak guidance from Darden Restaurants (DRI 47.40, -5.02) weighed on restaurant operators. Darden slumped 9.6% after issuing downside earnings guidance for the second quarter. In addition, the company lowered its full-year earnings and revenue guidance as well. Following the update, Bank of America/Merrill Lynch and Cowen both downgraded the stock. Among other restaurant operators, Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD 72.30, -0.96), Cheesecake Factory (CAKE 32.80, -1.26), and Brinker (EAT 29.45, -0.41) all fell between 1.3% and 3.7%. Note that Brinker also lowered its second quarter guidance on October 24.

Select Chinese stocks were weaker after the Securities and Exchange Commission announced charges against the Chinese affiliates of Big 4 accounting firms. The charges raise concern over the quality of financial statements of U.S.-listed Chinese stocks. Casino operators Asia Entertainment (AERL 3.00, -0.37) and Melco Crown Entertainment (MPEL 14.18, -1.18) saw respective losses of 11.0% and 7.7% as investors were reluctant to buy Chinese ADRs.

The Dow Jones Transportation Average added 0.3%. As most components registered gains, trucking stocks underperformed. The group has encountered a soft patch recently, and the weakness continued today. JB Hunt (JBHT 58.13, -0.55) and Landstar (LSTR 49.25, -0.60) both slid near 1.0%.

The market will receive a full slate of economic news tomorrow. The weekly MBA Mortgage Index and the November ADP Employment Change will be released at 7:00 ET and 8:15 ET, respectively. In addition, revised third quarter productivity and unit labor costs will be reported at 8:30 ET. Lastly, October factory orders and November ISM Services will hit the wires at 10:00 ET.DJ30 -13.82 NASDAQ -5.51 SP500 -2.41 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1169/1.7 bln/1295 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1444/674.6 mln/1544

3:30 pm : Crude oil spent floor trade in negative territory despite a weaker dollar index. The energy component came off its session low of $87.57 per barrel set at the floor open and inched higher. However, efforts to push prices above the break-even territory were unsuccessful, leaving crude oil to settle with a 0.7% loss at $88.47 per barrel.

Natural gas also chopped around in the red. It popped to a session high of $3.61 per MMBtu in early morning action but quickly reversed the move. It closed the session 1.7% lower at $3.56 per MMBtu.

Likewise, precious metals fell deeper into negative territory despite the lower dollar index and lack of U.S. economic data. Gold pulled-back from its session high of $1704.80 per ounce and ended the session 1.5% lower at $1695.70 per ounce. Silver brushed a session low of $32.74 per ounce moments before it settled with a 2.7% loss at $32.83 per ounce.DJ30 +16.57 NASDAQ -2.60 SP500 -0.08 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1202/1380 mln/1233 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1480/416 mln/1497

4:38PM Photronics beats by $0.03, beats on revs (PLAB) 4.90 -0.13 : Reports Q4 (Oct) earnings of $0.07 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.03 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.04; revenues fell 14.7% year/year to $104.2 mln vs the $102.62 mln consensus.

Note: Co guided to $0.03-0.04 and $102-103 mln on Oct 21.

4:20PM Altera sees Q4 rev at low end of previous guidance; sees FY13 gross margin in-line (ALTR) 32.18 -0.05 : Co issues guidance for Q4 (Dec), lowers Q4 (Dec) revs to -10 to -8% QoQ to ~$445.5-455.4 mln (from -10 to -6%) vs. $455.23 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate. Sales of the co's new products are expected to grow sequentially but that growth will be more than offset by lower sales of the company's older products. Fourth quarter results will be released after the market close on January 23, 2013.

Co sees FY13 gross margin of 69-70%, in-line.

9:30AM Intel announces sernior notes offering (INTC) 19.68 +0.14 : Co announced that it intends to offer senior unsecured notes under an automatic shelf registration statement on file with the SEC. The offering and the final terms of the notes, including principal amount, interest rate and maturity will depend on market and other conditions at the time of pricing. Intel intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes and to repurchase shares of its common stock under the company's existing share repurchase authorization. J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated are acting as joint book-running managers for the offering.

8:33AM Celestica announces successful us$175 million substantial issuer bid (CLS) 7.28 : All the terms and conditions of the Offer have been complied with or waived and, based on a preliminary count by Computershare Investor Services, as depositary for the Offer Celestica expects to take up and pay for approximately 22,435,897 Shares at a purchase price of US$7.80 per Share.

EVault, a Seagate (STX) co, it is further expanding into the Brazilian market by partnering with the Alcateia Group, an IT solutions provider in Brazil. Alcateia was chosen to be the Brazilian distributor for the full range of EVault cloud-connected services.

8:04AM Axcelis Tech & and Lam Research (LRCX) enter strategic collaboration agreement on Ion Implant, Dry-Strip, and Etch (ACLS) 1.00 : Cos announced a strategic collaboration agreement focusing on the interrelationship between ion implantation, etch processes, and photoresist strip applications, including material modification implants and high-dose implant strip (HDIS). Separately, Axcelis decided that it will exit the dry-strip business and divest its dry-strip intellectual property and technology, including the advanced non-oxidizing process technology of its Integra product line, to Lam Research, allowing Axcelis to focus exclusively on the ion implant market. Axcelis will continue to ship its 300 mm dry-strip products through August 2013, and support the large Axcelis installed base indefinitely, including all existing parts and service contracts.

8:03AM MEMC Elec announces plan to declassify Board of Directors (WFR) 2.94 : Co announced that its board of directors has voted to include in the company's proxy statement for its 2013 annual meeting of stockholders a management proposal to eliminate the Company's classified board structure. The board will recommend that stockholders approve an amendment to the Company's certificate of incorporation to eliminate the classified structure. If approved, directors would be elected to one-year terms as their existing terms expire, beginning with the class of directors elected at the Company's 2014 annual meeting of stockholders

Veeco Instruments (VECO) announced that Guangdong Deli Optoelectronics has ordered multiple TurboDisc K465i Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition Systems to support its high brightness light emitting diode manufacturing ramp.

Integrated Silicon Solution (ISSI) has announced the IS31FL3731 a high performance dot matrix LED driver for intelligent displays used in mobile phones, white good appliances, toys and personal electronics.

4:03AM NXP Semi announces new refinancing; launches transaction seeking commitments for up to $500 mln in new senior secured loans (NXPI) 24.33 : Co announces it launched a transaction seeking commitments for up to $500 mln in new senior secured loans, the proceeds of which would be used to fund NXP B.V.'s currently ongoing offer to purchase up to $500 mln in cash of the U.S. dollar-denominated 9 3/4 % Senior Secured Notes due 2018 that NXP B.V. and NXP Funding LLC have outstanding. The New Loans would be drawn as additional loans under NXP's existing Senior Secured Term Loan Facility dated March 4, 2011

SunPower (SPWR) announced that systems integrator Kubokura Densetsu has signed a supply agreement for its T5 Solar Roof Tile. Kubokura will install the T5 Solar Roof Tile on four leased rooftops in the Kanagawa Prefecture.
AMD (AMD) announced its collaboration with Ubisoft to support the highly anticipated next chapter in the "Far Cry" franchise, "Far Cry 3," launching today in North America.
ASML Holding NV (ASML) announces that it has completed the Synthetic Buyback which forms part of ASML's Customer Co-Investment Program announced on 9 July 2012. With the execution of the Synthetic Buyback, ASML has made a EUR3.85 bln cash capital repayment to its shareholders

Oracle (ORCL) Board has declared an accelerated second, third and fourth quarter cash dividend totaling $0.18 per share of outstanding common stock. Oracle's CEO and largest stockholder did not participate in the deliberation or the vote on this matter. This accelerated dividend is intended by the Board to be in lieu of quarterly dividends Oracle would have otherwise announced with its quarterly earnings results for the second, third and fourth quarters of fiscal year 2013, and that would have been paid in calendar year 2013. This accelerated dividend will be paid to stockholders of record as of the close of business on December 14, 2012, with a payment date of December 21, 2012. The next opportunity for the Board to consider and approve the declaration of a dividend will be when Oracle announces its earnings results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2014 which ends on August 31, 2013.

Qualcomm (QCOM) announced the expansion of its display technology agreement between its subsidiary Pixtronix and Sharp (SHCAY) to develop and commercialize high-quality color, low-power MEMS displays incorporating IGZO technology and built utilizing existing LCD manufacturing infrastructure, and Qualcomm's equity investment in Sharp Corporation. As a result of the equity investment, Qualcomm will become a minority shareholder in Sharp.

10:55 am Information Technology Sector trading slightly higher today
The tech sector is trading lower today, trailing narrower losses in the broader market. Semiconductors are showing relative strength, however, with the SOX trading only 0.1% lower. Within the chip index, INTC (+1.4%) is a notable standout. Among other major indices, the SPY is trading 0.1% lower today, while the QQQ and the NASDAQ are trading 0.4% lower on the session. Among tech bellwethers, INTC (+1.4%) is showing strength, while AAPL (-1.7%) is showing notable weakness.

In tech earnings last night, EXA (-25.1%) posted a quarterly miss and issued downside guidance. This morning, MSPD (+5.7%) raised guidance, while SYNT (-9.4%) guided below consensus. In news last night, ORCL (-0.6%) announced that it accelerated payment of three quarters of dividends. Likewise, ESIO (+8.9%) and QADA (-0.4%) announced a special dividend. Also, QCOM (-0.5%) confirmed recent reports that the co will take a stake in Sharp. In news this morning, ZNGA (+2.9%) and SYNC (+2.3%) partnered to make in-game currency and access to Zynga games available for consumers with premium pay-TV and internet subscriptions. UEPS (-55.9%) disclosed a DoJ investigation. Also, the Chinese ADR space is seeing some notable pressure this morning following SEC charges against Chinese accounting firm. BIDU (-5.4%), SINA (-7.1%), and YOKU (-5.8%) are a few names showing weakness. Among rumors, S (0.0%) is not likely to make a counter offer for PCS (-7.5%), according to reports. In notable analyst upgrades this morning in the tech space, SBAC (+0.9%) was upgraded to Top Pick at RBC and PTNR (+2.9%) was upgraded to Buy at BofA/Merrill. Among downgrades, DMD (-7.2%) was downgraded to Sell at Goldman, RENN (+0.9%) and CAJ (-1.2%) were downgraded at Deutsche Bank, EXA (-25.1%) was downgraded to Neutral at Robert W. Baird, and SSYS (-2.9%) was downgraded to Neutral at Dougherty. P (+1.8%) is one of the notable names in tech scheduled to report quarterly results today after the close.