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From Briefing.com: 4:25 pm : After alternating between gains and losses for 14 straight sessions, the S&P 500 has pulled a hat trick this week. It has now scored gains in every session this week and, boy, the third time was a charm.

The market rallied sharply, bolstered by its confidence in the support of the Federal Reserve and healthy gains in influential leadership groups that helped both the Dow and S&P 500 register all-time intraday highs and closing highs today.

The minutes from the March FOMC meeting were the focal point throughout the session. To begin, they caused a stir after being released early (9:00 a.m. ET) since the Fed discovered they were inadvertently released to 100 Congressional staffers and employees of trade organizations around 2:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday. The matter of their premature release is under investigation, yet the minutes themselves underpinned today's gains.

Several views were expressed in the minutes, but the compilation of those views pointed to a majority view that the Fed should at least start tapering its purchases by the end of the year on the assumption labor market conditions are improved by then. It is important not to forget that what the FOMC decides to do will ultimately be dictated by incoming data. The Fed has been clear on that reminder for a long time. To that end, the minutes also pointed out that a couple of members noted the pace of purchases might appropriately be increased (emphasis our own) if progress toward the committee's economic goals was not maintained.

Our view is that the minutes were supportive for the equity market for the following reasons:

Not many participants want the Fed to stop or to taper purchases without proof that improving economic conditions are sustainable. Therefore, when the time comes it will be against a backdrop of sustained economic improvement that bodes well for consumer and business spending, and earning prospects.
The minutes are working toward reducing the element of surprise for market participants as it relates to future policy decisions.
The March nonfarm payrolls report, out after the FOMC meeting, does not fit with the tapering parameters maintained by Fed Chairman Bernanke, Vice Chairman Dudley, and Fed Governor Yellen who will continue to steer the policy directive.

The debate about the inferences of the FOMC Minutes will persist, yet the equity market certainly did not act as if it feared an earlier-than-expected tapering. The major averages moved steadily higher from the sound of the opening bell before leveling off around 1:00 p.m. ET. From that point on, they held in tight trading ranges that left them in close proximity to their best levels of the day by the time the closing bell rang.

Every sector participated in the advance, although the strongst gains were registered by the technology (+1.8%), health care (+1.7%), and industrial (+1.3%) sectors. Separately, the Dow Jones Transportation Average soared 1.8%. The worst-performing group was the energy sector, which was up "only" 0.5%.

There were some pockets of weakness, like the homebuilders, which failed to ride the coattails of the Taylor Morrison Home IPO (TMHC 23.05, +1.05). Gold ($1558.80, -$27.90) was another laggard after Goldman Sachs cuts its price targets for the yellow metal through 2014. Treasuries, meanwhile, were weak with the 10-year Note dropping 15 ticks, bringing its yield up to 1.81%.

By and large, stock monitors were filled with green figures. Advancers outpaced decliners by a 3-to-1 margin at the NYSE and by a nearly 4-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq. Per usual, there was a volume spike in the final hour that made lackluster volume totals throughout the day look more respectable at the closing bell. In total, 701 mln shares traded hands at the NYSE. That was slightly ahead of yesterday's total, yet it wasn't heavy at all in the context of the breakout move that was made today.

The moderate volume could be interpreted as a sign of reservations ahead of the first quarter earnings reports, which will start flooding in next week. JPMorgan Chase (JPM) and Wells Fargo (WFC), however, report before the open this Friday.

Results from Bed Bath & Beyond (BBBY) will be in focus on Thursday along with the initial claims report for the week ending April 6, which will be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. The Briefing.com consensus estimate for initial claims is pegged at 365,000.

DJ30 128.78 NASDAQ 59.39 SP500 19.12 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1984/1.71 bln/531 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 2293/701 mln/731

3:30 pm :

May crude oil extended gains for a third consecutive session despite spending morning pit trade in negative territory. The energy component dipped to a session low of $93.49 per barrel following inventory data. Although crude oil inventories had a smaller than expected build, gasoline inventories showed a build of 1.699 mln gallons while consensus called for a draw of 1.3 mln. Momentum picked up in afternoon floor as crude oil pushed to a session high of $94.80 per barrel. It eventually settled with a 0.4% gain at $94.59 per barrel.
May natural gas trended higher for most of its pit session. It touched a session high of $4.16 per MMBtu in late morning action but pulled-back as it headed into the close. It dipped to a session low of $4.07 per MMBtu moments before settling with a 1.7% gain at $4.09 per MMBtu.
June gold fell deeper into negative territory following a surprise early release of the FOMC Minutes and Goldman Sachs' cut of gold forecasts through 2014. A stronger dollar index also weighed on the yellow metal. Gold pulled back from its session high of $1579.90 per ounce and brushed a session low of $1556.40 per ounce in afternoon action. It settled 1.8% lower at $1558.80 per ounce.
May silver also spent its entire floor session in the red. It touched a session high of $27.87 per ounce in morning action but dipped to a session low of $27.44 per ounce in afternoon pit trade. Silver eventually settled 0.9% lower at $27.64 per ounce.

4:03PM Vishay announces signing of definitive purchase agreement with MCB Industrie S.A.; terms not disclosed (VSH) 12.81 +0.21 :

ANADIGICS (ANAD) announced that its AWL9581 front-end integrated circuit is used in Murata's latest WiFi module.

9:21AM Photronics announces approval to proceed with tender offer to acquire outstanding shares of its majority owned Taiwan Subsidiary, PSMC (PLAB) 6.90 : Co announced that Photronics Semiconductor Mask Corporation, a majority-owned subsidiary of Photronics has obtained approval from the Gretai Securities Market of PSMC's application for the delisting of its stock. Photronics Inc., the majority shareholder of PSMC, has promised to acquire PSMC's total shares currently outstanding at NTD16.30 per share from April 30, 2013 through June 18, 2013, via tender offer

9:06AM First Solar acquires 60 MWAC North Star project from NorthLight Power (FSLR) 39.35 : Co announced that First Solar has acquired the 60 megawattAC (MW) North Star solar project that NorthLight has developed in Fresno County, Calif. NorthLight is a joint venture of Renewable Energy Corporation ASA and Summit Power Group, LLC. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The photovoltaic (PV) solar plant is expected to start construction in 2014 and be completed in 2015, providing up to 410 construction jobs. When fully operational, it will produce enough clean, renewable energy to power over 21,000 average California homes while displacing ~33,000 metric tons of water consumption and 39,000 metric tons of CO2 per year-the equivalent of taking about 7,500 cars off the road each year.

Juniper Networks (JNPR) announced that Belgacom has deployed Juniper Networks T Series Core Routers to ready itself for the future of Internet applications and bandwidth growth.

Semtech (SMTC) is working with Ross Video and has delivered UHD-SDI components so that the co can develop a UHD-SDI capable distribution amplifier.

Select solar names modestly pulling back (JKS reported earnings and FSLR cautious analyst comments): FSLR -2.9% (modestly pulling back, multiple analysts are out this morning suggesting the upside move on yesterday's guidance is overdone), TSL -2.5%, SPWR -2.3%, YGE -1.8%, WFR -1.3%.

11:25 am S&P Tech sector trading higher by +1.55% today
The tech sector is trading higher today, ahead of gains in the broader market. Semiconductors are showing relative strength as well with the SOX trading 1.8% higher. Within the chip index, MU (+5.0%) is a notable standout. Among other major indices, the SPY is trading 1.0% higher today, while the QQQ is up 1.7% and the NASDAQ is trading 1.5% higher on the session. Among tech bellwethers, FB (+4.1%) is showing notable strength.

In tech earnings, SEAC (-5.8%) posted a beat last night, but guided below consensus. This morning, ADTN (+12.0%) posted a Q1 beat. In news, WDAY (-0.6%) is under pressure as its IPO lockup expired today. Among rumors, we are hearing STX (+2.1%) M&A speculation making the rounds. Among notable analyst upgrades this morning in the tech space, IBM (+1.4%) was upgraded to Buy at UBS and SI (+1.5%) was upgraded to Neutral at Exane BNP. Among downgrades, PCCC (-3.5%) was downgraded to Underperform at Raymond James, TEL (-0.4%) was downgraded to Neutral at BofA/Merrill, IDCC (+0.2%) was downgraded to Market Perform at William Blair and NTAP (-0.5%) was downgraded to Neutral at UBS. Also, FTE (+0.8%) was added to the Conviction Sell List at Goldman. There are no notable names in tech scheduled to report quarterly results today after the close.