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From Briefing.com: Weekly Recap - Week ending 05-Apr-13

Dow -40.86 at 14565.25, Nasdaq -21.12 at 3203.86, S&P -6.70 at 1553.28

The major averages ended today's session with modest losses. The S&P 500 shed 0.4% while the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.7%.

The bulk of today's selling occurred at the open as three points of concern sent investors in search of safety. Headlines from Asia indicated North Korea has not toned down its war rhetoric and South Korean officials confirmed that the North has moved a pair of mid-range missiles to its east coast.

In addition to the Korean concerns pressuring the broader market, disappointing second quarter guidance from F5 Networks (FFIV 73.21, -17.21) contributed to the relative weakness of the tech sector, which ended as the day's biggest laggard.

While the two items pressured index futures in pre-market trade, a disappointing March nonfarm payrolls report ensured a sharply lower start to the cash session.

Nonfarm payrolls added just 88,000 new jobs in March. That was down from an upwardly revised 268,000 (from 236,000) additions in February and was the smallest increase in jobs since June 2012. The Briefing.com consensus expected payrolls to add 192,000 jobs.

Although the three headwinds caused the S&P 500 to start lower by 1.3%, the benchmark average notched its lows during the opening minute before spending the remainder of the day in a steady climb.

The morning developments sparked a safety bid across the Treasury complex. As a result, the 10-yr yield fell to its lows before recovering three basis points into the close. However, Treasuries ended near their best levels of the week with the 10-yr yield down 17 basis points at 1.70%.

The technology sector felt the brunt of today's selling pressure as F5 Networks' cautious guidance weighed on other networking companies. In addition, large cap tech names saw outsized losses as well. The largest tech component, Apple (AAPL 423.20, -4.52), lost 1.1%, and settled near its 52-week low. Notably, chipmakers underperformed in early trade, but finished the day ahead of the tech sector. The PHLX Semiconductor Index shed 0.5%.

Although growth-oriented sectors were among the biggest decliners in early trade, those groups were able to climb off their lows. Financials, industrials, and materials outperformed the defensively-minded consumer staples and health care sectors.

It should be noted that health care and consumer staples are the top performing sectors year-to-date, therefore some profit taking may have played a part in their underperformance today.

On the upside, telecoms and utilities settled in the black. The SPDR Utilities Select Sector ETF (XLU 39.57, +0.17) added 0.4%, and was the top performing sector ETF as investors sought higher-yielding equities.

While the broader market finished well off its lows, the Dow Jones Transportation Average was able to stage a stunning reversal. The bellwether complex was down as much as 2.2% at the start of the session before ending with a gain of 0.5%. Truckers were among the top index performers as Con-way (CNW 34.01, +0.96) advanced 2.9%.

Looking back at the day's final sector performance, technology (-1.0%), consumer staples (-0.7%), and health care (-0.6%) were among the biggest laggards. Meanwhile, utilities (+0.4%), telecom (+0.4%), energy (UNCH), and industrials (-0.2%) outperformed.

Reviewing today's remaining economic data, private nonfarm payrolls rose 95,000, but that was still well below consensus forecasts (210,000), and what was added in February (254,000).

The unemployment rate dipped to 7.6% in March from 7.7% in February. The decline in the unemployment rate, however, was not due to job growth. The labor force participation rate dropped to levels not seen since the late 1970s and caused the unemployment rate to decline. If the labor force participation rate had remained at February levels, the unemployment rate would have increased to 7.9%.

The U.S. trade deficit narrowed in February, dropping from $44.5 billion in January to $43.0 billion. The Briefing.com consensus expected the deficit to increase slightly to $44.7 billion.

Consumer credit increased by $18.1 billion in February after increasing a downwardly revised $12.7 billion (from $16.2 billion) in January. The Briefing.com consensus expected consumer credit to increase by $14.0 billion.

There is no economic news of note scheduled for a Monday release.

On Tuesday, February wholesale inventories will be reported at 10:00 ET.

Week in Review: S&P 500 Alternates Between Gains and Losses

On Monday, stocks saw little change at the start of the session with European markets shuttered for Easter Monday. However, that changed quickly once the March ISM Index was reported below expectations. The Index was reported at 51.3, which was its lowest reading since December, and it sent the major averages to their lows with cyclical sectors pacing the decline. The SPDR Industrial Select Sector ETF (XLI 40.97, -0.08) fell 1.2%. Transportation-related stocks did their part in pressuring the space as the Dow Jones Transportation Average ended lower by 1.5%. All 20 stocks comprising the Transportation Average settled in the red, and truckers were among the weakest performers. Ryder System (R 57.83, +0.33) and Landstar (LSTR 55.55, +1.24) saw respective losses of 1.8% and 2.4%.

Equities spent the bulk of Tuesday's session near their highs before a late afternoon stumble dropped the S&P 500 back near the middle of its range. As a result, the benchmark average finished higher by 0.5%. Notably, the Russell 2000, which tracks small cap stocks, ended lower by 0.5% after losing more than 1.0% on Monday. The health care sector showed strength out of the gate with managed care stocks jumping after the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said 2014 Medicaid Advantage and prescription drug benefit rates will increase by 3.3%. Dow component UnitedHealth Group (UNH 62.10, +0.07) gained 4.7%.

Wednesday saw a steady decline and the S&P 500 settled lower by 1.1%. Notably, small cap stocks extended their recent weakness as indicated by a 1.7% decline in the Russell 2000. The Dow Jones Transportation Average finished lower by 1.3% with airlines leading the decline. Delta Air Lines (DAL 14.39, -0.36) and United Continental (UAL 29.27, -0.03) both lost 2.5%. Notably, Wednesday marked the third consecutive session which saw the bellwether complex end with a loss of at least 1.0%.

On Thursday, equities began the day on a mixed note. The S&P 500 climbed higher out of the gate while Nasdaq slipped into the red, where it spent the majority of the session. After the prior day's selloff caused the benchmark average to slide 1.1%, a handful of Wednesday's underperformers began among the leaders. However, the early leadership did not hold into the afternoon as some defensive sectors began appearing atop the leaderboard. Counter-cyclical telecoms and utilities climbed throughout the day, and saw the largest gains.

 
 Index	  Started Week	 Ended Week   Change  % Change	YTD % 
 DJIA	    14578.54	  14565.25   -13.29	-0.1	11.1 
 Nasdaq	     3267.52	   3203.86   -63.66	-1.9	 6.1 
 S&P 500	1569.19	   1553.28   -15.91	-1.0	 8.9 
 Russell 2000  951.54	    923.28   -28.26	-3.0	 8.7

4:41PM Cymer: U.S. Department of Justice clears ASML acquisition of Cymer (CYMI) 94.80 +0.56 : ASML Holding NV (ASML) and Cymer (CYMI) announce that the Antitrust Division of the United States Department of Justice has cleared the previously announced merger between Cymer and affiliates of ASML. Clearance of the merger has previously been granted by the U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), as well as the Taiwanese, German and Israeli antitrust authorities. Furthermore, Cymer stockholders have approved the merger agreement. Completion of the merger remains subject to additional customary closing conditions and receipt of approvals under competition laws in South Korea and Japan. Cymer and ASML continue to expect the transaction to close in the first half of 2013.

AMD (AMD) announced its collaboration with Adobe Systems (ADBE) to deliver OpenCL hardware-accelerated video editing for the first time on the Microsoft Windows platform with the next version of Adobe Premiere Pro.

10:49 am S&P Information Technology Sector trading +1.7% following weak jobs report

The tech sector is trading lower today, trailing narrower losses in the broader market. Semiconductors are showing relative weakness as well with the SOX trading 2.0% lower. Within the chip index, ALTR (-3.4%) and CRUS (-3.4%) are notable laggards. Among other major indices, the SPY is trading 1.2% lower today, while the QQQ and the NASDAQ are trading 1.5% lower on the session. Among tech bellwethers, only FB (+1.0%) is showing strength, while CSCO (-3.7%) is under heavy pressure.

In tech earnings last night, FFIV (-19.3%) guided Q2 below consensus. CSCO (-3.7%) and JNPR (-5.6%) are lower in sympathy. This morning, SSNLF (0.0%) and RDWR (-19.6%) each guided Q1 below consensus. In news, Ray Lane is stepping down as HPQ (-1.8%) Chairman, Ralph Whitman will replace him. SABA (-2.3%) disclosed its under an SEC investigation. NIHD (+13.1%) announced the sale of Nextel Peru to Entel for $400 mln. Among notable analyst upgrades this morning in the tech space, Argus upgrades FB (+1.0%) to Buy and Stifel upgraded TDC (+0.2%) to Buy. Among downgrades, FFIV (-19.3%) was downgraded at a host of firms, VTNC (-4.6%) was downgraded to Hold at Cowen, and JNPR (-5.6%) was downgraded to Equal Weight at Barclays.

09:04 am Facebook upgraded to Buy at Argus; tgt $36: . Argus upgrades FB to Buy from Hold and sets target price at $36. On 4/4, FB announced "Facebook Home," not just a new mobile phone application, but rather a completely redesigned way for users to interact with Facebook through mobile devices. Firm sees Facebook Home as a way for the company to strengthen its presence in mobile computing without jumping into the hardware business or even developing its own operating system. It's raising its 2013 EPS estimate to $0.48 from $0.45 and its 2014 forecast to $0.67 from $0.55. FB shares are trading well below their recent high of more than $32 and in its view now offer a favorable entry point.

F5 Networks (FFIV) issued downside guidance for the second quarter with EPS of $1.06-1.07, excluding non-recurring items versus the $1.23 consensus ($1.21-1.24 previous guidance), with revenues of $350.2 million versus the $376.05 million consensus ($370-380 mln previous guidance). John McAdam, F5 president and chief executive officer, said the revenue shortfall resulted primarily from a slowdown in North American and to a lesser extent EMEA sales, while sales in Japan and Asia-Pacific were essentially in line with the co's expectations. "From a market perspective, Telco bookings were down sharply on both a sequential and year-over-year basis. U.S. Federal sales were also down significantly from the second quarter a year ago. Currently, we are looking into all the factors affecting the quarter's results and we plan to provide more color during our regularly scheduled release and conference call on April 24."

Xyratex (XRTX) reported first quarter loss of $0.13 per share, $0.05 better than the Capital IQ consensus of ($0.18), while revenues fell 33.8% year/year to $195.6 million versus the $177.31 million consensus. The company issues in-line guidance for the second quarter with EPS of ($0.15) - $0.09 versus the ($0.13) consensus and revenues of $190-220 million versus the $202.74 million consensus. Gross profit margin in the first quarter was 18.9%, compared to 17.9% in the same period last year and 14.5% in the prior quarter. Today, the Company also announced that its Board of Directors has approved a quarterly cash dividend of $0.075 per share, unchanged from the prior quarterly dividend.

Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) announced changes to its board of directors. Raymond J. Lane has decided to step down as chairman of the board, to be replaced on an interim basis by Ralph V. Whitworth. The board is commencing a search for a permanent nonexecutive board chairman. In addition, John H. Hammergren and G. Kennedy Thompson, after eight and seven years of service to HP stockholders, respectively, have decided to leave the board. Both directors will continue to serve until the May board meeting. The board is commencing a search for two or more new independent directors. With Lane stepping down as executive chairman, the role of lead independent director, currently held by Rajiv L. Gupta, is no longer necessary and will be eliminated. Gupta will remain on the board and will replace Thompson as chairman of the Audit Committee. Gary M. Reiner will replace Gupta as chairman of the Nominating and Governance Committee. With Hammergren's departure, Whitworth will become chairman of the Finance and Investment Committee.

Radware (RDWR) issued downside guidance for the first quarter with lowered EPS to $0.30, excluding non-recurring items, from $0.40-0.43 versus the $0.42 consensus and lowered first quarter revenue guidance to 45 mln from $48.5-49.5 million versus the $49.15 million consensus. "While we realized strong sales in the U.S. market during the first quarter of 2013, the co experienced weaker than expected results in EMEA and China. This resulted in lower quarterly revenues than we anticipated."