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From Briefing.com: 4:20 pm : Today's session opened with initial uncertainty before the major averages staged a climb to their respective highs. Overseas, Standard & Poor's lowered Greece's long term credit rating to ‘Select Default' from ‘CCC.' Meanwhile, Germany's DAX closed at its highest level in nearly five years. Domestically, trade was confined to a narrow range, but late-day buying lifted the S&P 500 to a slim gain of 0.3%.

The technology sector was the top performer, and the SPDR Technology Select Sector ETF (XLK 28.91, +0.16) advanced 0.6%. Apple (AAPL 547.24, +8.45) was down as much as 3.0% in early trade, but after marking its session low at $518.63, the stock reversed and finished higher by 1.6%.

Elsewhere, Akamai Technologies (AKAM 39.06, +3.56) surged 10.0% after the company announced a global strategic alliance with AT&T (T 33.65, -0.26). The newly forged partnership will allow Akamai to deploy CDN servers on the AT&T network in order to improve content routing and its delivery.

Remaining in the sector, major hard drive makers enjoyed their third strong session in a row. Seagate (STX 28.53, +0.93) and Western Digital (WDC 37.10, +1.07) both added near 3.0%.

Financials registered slim gains and the SPDR Financial Select Sector ETF (XLF 15.90, +0.05) tacked on 0.3%. Citigroup (C 37.02, +0.56) was the top performer among the majors. The stock settled higher by 0.9% to extend yesterday's 6.3% rally sparked by the announcement of plans to dismiss more than 11,000 employees.

Looking at European financials, Deutsche Bank (DB 45.49, -0.58) slid 1.3% after reports from Reuters indicated the bank may have hid up to $12 billion in losses in order to avoid having to accept a government bailout.

Also of note, HSBC Holdings (HBC 51.75, -0.12) shed 0.2% after Reuters reported the company may be facing a $1.8 billion money-laundering fine. The industrial sector was the weakest performer and manufacturers of building products weighed. Lennox International (LII 51.07, -0.49) and Masco (MAS 15.78, -0.43) fell 1.0% and 2.7%, respectively.

Elsewhere, UTi Worldwide (UTIW 12.88, -1.15) slid 8.2% after reporting disappointing earnings. During the third quarter, the supply chain manager earned $0.16, which was $0.09 worse than the Capital IQ consensus estimate. Meanwhile, its revenue of $1.13 billion also missed expectations. When commenting on its past performance and the future outlook, company management said, "Macroeconomic and freight conditions remained weak throughout our fiscal 2013 third quarter, and we see no real catalysts to drive increases in the foreseeable future."

The Dow Jones Transportation Average underperformed and shed 0.1%. Most transportation stocks were on the decline and CH Robinson (CHRW 60.64, -1.27) was the biggest laggard. The freight carrier finished lower by 2.1% and other truckers registered losses as well.

With crude oil settling lower by 1.7%, airlines outperformed. Delta Air Lines (DAL 10.02, +0.31) gained 3.2% and was the best performing carrier. Earlier, the company has finalized its agreement with Bombardier Aerospace, which will allow Delta to continue renovating its domestic fleet by replacing its least efficient jets.

The latest weekly initial jobless claims count totaled 370,000, which is lower than the 382,000 that had been expected by the Briefing.com consensus. The tally is below the revised prior week count of 395,000. As for continuing claims, they fell to 3.205 million from 3.305 million.

November Challenger Job Cuts rose by 34.4% year-over-year after the prior month's reading pointed to an 11.6% increase.

In tomorrow's economic data, November nonfarm payrolls, nonfarm private payrolls, unemployment rate, hourly earnings, and average workweek will all be released at 8:30 ET. In addition, December Michigan Sentiment and October consumer credit will be reported at 9:55 ET and 15:00 ET, respectively.DJ30 +39.55 NASDAQ +15.57 SP500 +4.66 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1223/1.66 bln/1234 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1586/617.1 mln/1434

3:30 pm : Crude oil fell deeper into negative territory on pressure from a stronger dollar index following the European Central Bank's reduction of Eurozone growth estimates. Crude retreated from its session high of $87.09 per barrel and closed pit trade with a 1.8% loss at $86.26 per barrel.

Natural gas popped to a session high of $3.75 per MMBtu on strong inventory data that showed a draw of 73 bcf when a draw of 70 bcf was anticipated. The move was short-lived, however, and prices plunged back into negative territory to a session low of $3.61 per MMBtu. Natural gas eventually settled with a 1.6% loss at $3.66 per MMBtu.

Gold traded back above the $1700.00 per ounce level on ECB's lowered growth forecasts. The yellow metal lifted off its pit session low of $1687.10 per ounce and traded up to a session high of $1704.80 per ounce. It spent afternoon trade chopping around in a tight range just below that level and settled with a 0.4% gain at $1701.50 per ounce. Silver also popped into positive territory after trading as low as $32.60 per ounce in morning action. It pulled back off its session high of $33.33 per ounce and settled at $33.13 per ounce, or 0.6% higher.DJ30 +18.16 NASDAQ +8.94 SP500 +2.11 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1094/1380.9 mln/1357 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1396/421 mln/1597

5:30PM Linear Tech increases quarterly dividend by 4% to $0.26 from $0.25 per share, accelerates payment (LLTC) 33.51 +0.34 : Co's Board of Directors of Linear Technology Corporation approved an increase in the Company's quarterly dividend from $0.25 per share to $0.26 per share. In addition, the Board approved accelerating the payment of the current quarter's dividend into December from its historical February timeframe to benefit shareholders. Consequently, this quarter's dividend will be paid on December 28, 2012 to stockholders of record on December 17, 2012.

5:27PM Cohu announces acceleration of quarterly dividend payment (COHU) 9.08 -0.12 : Co announced that its Board of Directors authorized a change in the payment date of the company's previously announced regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.06 per share to December 28, 2012 from January 2, 2013. The record date of the quarterly dividend remains unchanged at November 23, 2012.

4:26PM AMD amends wafer supply agreement with GLOBALFOUNDRIES; co lowered its wafer purchase commitments for Q4, AMD will make a termination payment of $320 mln, As a result of the amendment, AMD expects to return to free cash flow generation in the second half of 2013 (AMD) 2.34 +0.05 : Co announced that it successfully amended its Wafer Supply Agreement (WSA) with GLOBALFOUNDRIES Inc.

The closure of amendment negotiations solidifies AMD's new operating model as communicated at the third quarter 2012 earnings announcement. To better align with today's PC market dynamics, AMD and GLOBALFOUNDRIES agreed on purchase commitments for Q4 2012 and established fixed pricing and other terms of the WSA which apply to products AMD will purchase from GLOBALFOUNDRIES through Dec. 31, 2013. "We are committed to develop and grow our business with GLOBALFOUNDRIES, increasing our engagement across our industry leading APU and graphics roadmaps. The newly amended agreement is another step we are taking to further strengthen our relationship with GLOBALFOUNDRIES as well as AMD's financial foundation."

Announcement details:

AMD lowered its wafer purchase commitments for Q4 2012.
AMD currently estimates that it will purchase wafers from GLOBALFOUNDRIES for ~$115 mln in the fourth quarter 2012 and $1.15 billion in fiscal 2013. AMD has also committed to purchase wafers from GLOBALFOUNDRIES for ~$250 mln during first quarter 2014.
AMD expects to negotiate the remainder of its 2014 purchase commitments from GLOBALFOUNDRIES in 2013.
AMD will make a termination payment of $320 mln related to the take-or-pay agreement with GLOBALFOUNDRIES associated with the adjusted wafer purchase commitments in fourth quarter 2012. The cash impact of the termination fee will spread over several quarters: $80 mln by Dec. 28, 2012; $40 mln by Apr. 1, 2013; and A $200 mln promissory note issued by AMD to GLOBALFOUNDRIES due on Dec. 31, 2013. The termination fee will result in a net one-time charge of ~$165 mln recorded in Q$ 2012. Separately, as AMD moves to standard 28nm process technology, AMD will reduce future reimbursements to GLOBALFOUNDRIES for certain research and development costs. As a result of the amendment, AMD expects to return to free cash flow generation in the second half of 2013.

4:16PM TranSwitch receives Nasdaq minimum bid price non-compliance letter (TXCC) 0.77 -0.00 : Co announced that it received a letter on December 4, 2012, from the Nasdaq Capital Market indicating that the Company no longer meets the minimum bid price requirement for continued listing on the Nasdaq Capital Market as set forth in Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550. The notice stated that the bid price of the Company's common stock has closed below the required minimum $1.00 per share for the previous 30 consecutive business days.

4:01PM Vitesse Semi announces proposed public offering of common stock; size not disclosed (VTSS) 2.09 -0.07 : Needham & Company, LLC is acting as the sole bookrunning manager of the offering. Craig-Hallum Capital Group LLC is acting as co-manager. Co intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for working capital and general corporate purposes. A portion of the net proceeds also may be used to repay or restructure indebtedness.

9:44AM Semiconductor Hldrs ETF rung to new early session high led by INTC (SMH) 30.18 +0.22 : Noted relative strength in INTC +1.7% in the 09:33 update with the new high of 32.27 in the SMH leaving it near this week's high, the Nov close high and a trendline off the March - Aug peaks in the 32.30/32.32 area. Its Nov intraday high comes into play at 32.43 with its 200 sma at 32.56 -- ADI +0.6%, ALTR +0.7%, AMD +1.3%, ATML +1.6%, BRCM +2%, KLAC +0.8%, SNDK +0.8%.

9:33AM Intel displays some opening relative strength, sets new highs for the week (INTC) 20.03 +0.18 : Firmer early tone edges to new weekly high of 20.10. Its declining 20 day ema and the top of its roughly two week trading range and the Nov bounce high are at 20.16/20.19.

GEO Semiconductor has entered into an agreement to acquire the digital video processing business from Maxim Integrated Products (MXIM). The transaction is expected to close prior to Dec 31, 2012. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed

Cisco (CSCO) announced its new portfolio of small and midsize business solutions to over 300 channel partners at the Asia Pacific, Japan and Greater China Partner-Led Network Event.

Research In Motion (RIMM) announced the BlackBerry 10 Ready Program. The program is designed to address the needs of BlackBerry enterprise customers as they prepare their environments for the launch of BlackBerry 10 and BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10.

Qualcomm Incorporated (QCOM) announced that its subsidiary, Qualcomm Atheros introduced a new ultra-low power near field communication solution that will enable mobile devices with contactless communications and data exchange, including next-generation mobile payments.

Sigma Designs (SIGM) reported third quarter loss of $0.27 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.10 worse than the Capital IQ consensus of ($0.17), while revenues rose 61.0% year/year to $63.9 million versus the $62.64 mln consensus.

Finisar (FNSR) reported second quarter earnings of $0.15 per share, $0.01 better than the Capital IQ consensus of $0.14, while revenues fell 3.9% year/year to $232 million versus the $231.83 mln consensus. The company issued in-line guidance for the third quarter with EPS of $0.14-0.18, excluding non-recurring items, versus the $0.17 consensus and revenues of $230-245 million versus the $239.70 million consensus.

Broadcom (BRCM) raised revenue guidance; narrowed toward the higher end of the range, or approximately $2.00 to $2.10 billion vs $2.05 billion consensus, up from $1.95-2.10 billion. Net Revenue: Narrowed toward the higher end of the range, or ~$2.00 to $2.10 billion, due to slightly better-than-expected revenue in our Mobile & Wireless business. Product Gross Margin (GAAP and Non-GAAP): Improved guidance for Q4'12 to up slightly from Q3'12. R&D Plus SG&A Expenses (GAAP and Non-GAAP): Improved guidance for Q4'12 to down ~$5-15 million from Q3'12, due to lower-than-expected headcount costs primarily driven by reduced incentive compensation, as well as tighter management of expenses and services.

SAIC (SAI) reported third quarter earnings of $0.33 per share, $0.02 worse than the Capital IQ consensus of $0.35, while revenues rose 2.9% year/year to $2.87 billion versus the $2.85 bln consensus. The company raised EPS guidance for fiscal year 2013 with EPS of $1.49-1.54 versus the $1.34 consensus, up from $1.26-1.36; sees FY13 revs of $10.9-11.4 billion versus the $11.16 billion consensus. "Our outlook continues to be cautious as the government approaches critical fiscal decisions. Under any scenario, we expect government spending to be constrained, especially in the defense market, and we are preparing for the budget pressures. For the long term, our plan to separate SAIC into two highly competitive and differentiated companies is well underway and generating great excitement in the Company. In the near term, we are taking action to reduce our cost structure in response to an increasingly competitive environment. This reduction will impact ~700 employees, largely as a result of a restructuring focused on indirect costs. While these decisions are painful, they are necessary to meet competitive demands, customer cost expectations and effectiveness, and to deliver financial performance for our shareholders."