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From Briefing.com: Weekly Recap - Week ending 22-Mar-13

Sector Performance (% change of the week): Financials (+1.35%), Tech (+0.25%), Health Care (+0.69%), Consumer Staples (-0.11%), Consumer Discretionary (+0.15%), Industrials (+0.75%), Energy (+1.11%), Telecom (-0.47%), Materials (+1.00%), Utilities (+1.19%).

Dow +90.54 at 14512.03, Nasdaq +22.40 at 3245, S&P +11.09 at 1556.89

Equity indices finished today's session firmly higher and the S&P 500 settled with a gain of 0.7%.

Stocks began the final session of the week on a positive note with notable strength in consumer stocks. The consumer discretionary sector paced today's advance from the opening bell after Nike (NKE 59.53, +5.93) and Tiffany (TIF 69.23, +1.32) reported bottom line beats and contributed to the relative strength of retailers. In addition, quick service restaurant operators outperformed after Darden Restaurants (DRI 49.62, +0.66) beat on earnings.

The growth-oriented discretionary sector was followed by its defensively-minded cousin, consumer staples. Food and beverage producers saw relative strength after reports indicated investor Nelson Peltz has built stakes in both Mondelez International (MDLZ 29.73, +1.17) and Pepsico (PEP 78.64, +2.49). The two stocks settled with respective gains of 4.1% and 3.3%.

The mixed sector leadership reflected a certain degree of uncertainty, which remains in the market. Going into the weekend, the situation in Cyprus remains unresolved with the latest reports indicating the Cypriot parliament has made some headway, but considerable funding needs remain unaddressed.

Although equities finished higher and appeared unconcerned by potential negative fallout from the inability to reach agreement, financials did not share that optimism. Bank of America (BAC 12.56, -0.01) and Citigroup (C 45.23, 0.00) ended little changed while the SPDR Financial Select Sector ETF (XLF 18.18, +0.11) underperformed the broader market with a gain of 0.6%. Notably, the financial sector proxy ETF ended the week lower by 1.5% as the possibility of a Cypriot exit from the eurozone weighed.

While major financials were tentative in their advance, the growth-oriented materials sector did not participate in the rally at all. After starting the session in line with the broader market, the SPDR Materials Select Sector ETF (XLB 39.07, +0.05) slid back to its unchanged level, and remained there until the close. The lack of a bounce in basic materials was notable as the sector bore the brunt of yesterday's selling.

Elsewhere, tech shares also underperformed notably in yesterday's action, but finished today in the middle of sector rankings. Although most tech stocks rebounded, Oracle (ORCL 31.98, -0.32) remained under pressure after reporting below-consensus earnings following Wednesday's close.

Trading volume was the lowest of the week as just over 620 million shares changed hands on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

Reviewing the final sector performance, consumer discretionary (+1.2%), consumer staples (+0.9%), energy (+0.8%), and telecom (+0.7%) finished in the lead. On the downside, materials (+0.1%), utilities (+0.2%), and financials (+0.5%) trailed behind the broader market.

There was no economic news released today with Monday's economic calendar also free of scheduled reports.

Week in Review: Stocks Waver as European Union Targets the Cypriot Saver

On Monday, equities began the session amid broad losses after the conditions of a Cypriot bailout put the package in jeopardy of being voted down in the country's parliament. Per the original agreement, Eurozone rescue funds would provide Cyprus with EUR10 billion in recapitalization with a 'stability levy' imposed on all bank accounts expected to raise an additional EUR5.8 billion. The financial sector bore the brunt of Monday's selling as bank stocks tend to show increased sensitivity in the face of political or economic uncertainty. Morgan Stanley (MS 22.18, +0.12) was the weakest performer among the majors, and the SPDR Financial Select Sector ETF lost 1.0%. Notably, European financials saw wider losses than their U.S. counterparts. Barclays (BCS 17.92, +0.13) and Deutsche Bank (DB 42.11, +0.11) settled lower by 4.1% and 3.6%, respectively.

Tuesday's session began with slim gains, but the early strength lacked conviction as uncertainty continued to surround Cyprus and the terms of its proposed bailout. The expectation of a failed parliamentary vote was confirmed during the afternoon when the Cypriot MPs voted down the deposit tax with 36 'No' votes and 19 abstentions. The energy sector was the biggest laggard with a decline in the price of crude contributing to the weakness. The energy component slid 1.8% to $92.46. Meanwhile, the SPDR Energy Select Sector ETF (XLE 78.75, +0.62) settled lower by 1.1%.

On Wednesday, the S&P 500 settled higher by 0.7% after spending the entire session in positive territory. The otherwise quiet session was highlighted by a policy statement from the Federal Reserve, which was largely in-line with expectations. With regards to economic conditions, the Committee observed a return to "Moderate economic growth following a pause late last year." Regarding price levels, "Inflation has been running somewhat below the Committee's longer-run objective, apart from temporary variations that largely reflect fluctuations in energy prices. Longer-term inflation expectations have remained stable." Industrial component FedEx (FDX 98.48, +1.98) endured a rough session and fell 6.9% after missing on the bottom line. The company also guided fourth quarter earnings below consensus due to a slowdown in global revenues.

Thursday began in the red with tech stocks driving the early decline. The technology sector underperformed notably after disappointing earnings and cautious revenue guidance from Oracle contributed to selling in several other large cap names. While tech shares pressured the broader market from the opening bell, producers of basic materials declined steadily after France and Germany surprised the market with contractionary manufacturing and services PMI reports. The growth concerns regarding core eurozone economies weighed on the economically-sensitive sector and the SPDR Materials Select Sector ETF lost 1.7%.

 
 Index	  Started Week	 Ended Week  Change  % Change	YTD % 
 DJIA	    14514.11	 14512.03    -2.08	-0.0	10.7 
 Nasdaq	     3249.07	  3245.00	-4.07	-0.1	7.5 
 S&P 500	1560.70	  1556.89	-3.81	-0.2	9.2 
 Russell 2000  952.48	   946.27	-6.21	-0.7   11.4

MU (10.15 +11.91%): Reported Q2 loss of $0.28 per share, includes items, may not be comparable to the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of ($0.19), beat on revs; tgt raised to $12 from $11 at Sterne Agee; tgt raised to $12 at RBC Capital Mkts; tgt raised to $12 from $11 at UBS.

Analog Devices (ADI) announced the availability of a low-cost hardware-software solution focusing on circuit testing designed for the engineering education market.

9:02AM Anadigics announces the appointment of Ron Michels as Chairman (ANAD) 1.94 : Co announced President and Chief Executive Officer, Ron Michels has been appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors effective March 20, 2013. In conjunction with this appointment, the Company also announced the appointment of Lew Solomon as Lead Independent Director of the Board of Directors.

10:43 am S&P Information Tech +0.52% in line with broader market
he tech sector is trading higher today, in line with gains in the broader market. Semiconductors are showing relative strength with the SOX trading 1.1% higher. Within the chip index, MU (+10.4%) is a notable standout following earnings. Among other major indices, the SPY is trading 0.6% higher today, while the QQQ is up 0.6% and the NASDAQ is trading 0.5% higher on the session. Among tech bellwethers, QCOM (+0.9%) is showing notable strength, while ORCL (-0.7%) is under pressure for the second straight session.

In tech earnings, TIBX (-15.5%) posted a slightly lower Q1 revs, inline EPS and downside guidance, while MU (+11.1%) posted upside quarterly sales. In news, CRM (+1.7%) announced a four-for-one stock split. TECD (-4.1%) restated prior financial statements, which will reduce previously reported consolidated operating income by ~$30-40 mln. Among IPOs, WSTC (has yet to open) priced below its expected range, while MRIN (+28.1%) priced above its expected range. Among rumors, there were reports that BX (-0.3%) is currently studying DELL (-0.1%) buyout, but decision is not certain. Among notable analyst upgrades this morning in the tech space, ADTN (+2.8%) was upgraded to Mkt Perform at Raymond James, PANW (0.0%) was upgraded to Buy at B. Riley Caris and SPRD (+2.2%) was upgraded to Buy at BofA/Merrill. Among downgrades, INFA (-3.8%) was downgraded to Neutral at Nomura, RAX (-1.1%) was downgraded to Sector Perform at Pacific Crest, PLT (-2.0%) was downgraded to Neutral at Sidoti and TIBX (-15.5%) was downgraded at Susquehanna, FBN, and Atlantic. There are no notable names in tech scheduled to report quarterly results today after the close.

Micron (MU) reported second quarter loss of $0.28 per share, includes items, may not be comparable to the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of ($0.19), while revenues rose 3.4% year/year to $2.08 billion versus the $1.92 billion consensus.

Salesforce.com (CRM) announced that its Board of Directors has approved a four-for-one split of the co's common stock and that its stockholders have approved a proportional increase in the number of authorized shares of salesforce.com common stock from 400 million to 1.6 billion. Each stockholder of record at the close of business on April 3, 2013, will receive three additional shares for every outstanding share held on the record date. Co expects that the additional shares will be distributed by the transfer agent on April 17, 2013, and that trading will begin on a split-adjusted basis on April 18, 2013.

TIBCO Software (TIBX) reported first quarter earnings of $0.18 per share, in-line with the Capital IQ consensus of $0.18, while revenues rose 5.4% year/year to $237.8 million versus the $242.44 million consensus License revenue of $78.3 million. "I believe we are making the right moves to steady our performance and deliver our next leg of growth. Our competitive differentiation remains strong, and we are well positioned to benefit from the current trends driving enterprise IT spending, such as 'big data,' especially with our event-driven platform approach to integrating and analyzing data in real-time."

Tech Data (TECD) announced that the Audit Committee of its Board of Directors, on the recommendation of management, and after discussion with the Company's independent accountants, Ernst & Young LLP, concluded that the Company will restate some or all of its previously issued quarterly and audited annual financial statements for the fiscal years 2011 and 2012, and some or all of the quarters of fiscal year 2013, including our fourth quarter and fiscal year 2013 earnings release dated March 4, 2013. Accordingly, investors should no longer rely upon the Company's previously released financial statements and other financial data relating to these periods. In addition, the Company will likely seek a 15-day filing extension for its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2013. The Company anticipates that the restatement will be made to correct improprieties primarily related to how the Company's U.K. subsidiary reflected vendor accounting. The Company estimates that the restatement will reduce previously reported consolidated operating income by an aggregate amount of approximately $30 million to $40 million, and consolidated net income by an aggregate amount of approximately $25 million to $33 million, over the three fiscal year periods. These preliminary estimates are based on currently available information and are subject to change during the course of the Company's ongoing investigation. As a result of this investigation, the Company is in the process of evaluating deficiencies in its internal controls over financial reporting.