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From Briefing.com: 4:15 pm : After yesterday's session saw the S&P 500 log its second-largest one-day advance of the year, today's action was dictated by the sellers. The S&P fell 1.4% as all ten sectors ended in the red.

There was no single catalyst responsible for today's decline. Instead, persistent global growth concerns coupled with rumors of a possible downgrade of France and Germany set the stage for a sharply lower open. Meanwhile, the pre-market downgrade rumors were partially realized before the close when Egan Jones downgraded Germany's rating to 'A' from A+.'

Technology stocks felt the brunt of today's drop as the SPDR Technology Select Sector ETF (XLK 29.62, -0.62) lost 2.1%. Apple (AAPL 402.80, -23.44) dipped below $400 for the first time since December 2011, and settled lower by 5.5%. In addition to the broad market pressure, disappointing guidance from Apple supplier Cirrus Logic (CRUS 18.05, -3.36) fueled speculation regarding the health of its largest customer.

Intel (INTC 21.93, +0.02) was a bright spot among tech shares after the company reported in-line earnings and revenue. However, other chipmakers did not benefit from Intel's results as the PHLX Semiconductor Index lost 3.3%.

Financials also finished among the weakest performers as the SPDR Financial Select Sector ETF (XLF 18.02, -0.34) shed 1.9%. Bank of America (BAC 11.70, -0.58) tumbled 4.7%, and ended below its 50-day moving average after missing on earnings.

Energy and materials led the market to the downside on Monday, and the two remained weak today. The energy sector lost 1.9% as crude oil declined as well. The energy component slid 2.2% to $86.74 per barrel.

Elsewhere, the materials space underperformed amid weakness in metals. Copper slumped 3.8% to end at levels not seen since September 2011 while gold slipped 1.1% to $1373.00. Steelmakers also echoed the ongoing growth concerns as the Market Vectors Steel ETF (SLX 39.78, -1.08) sank 2.6%. Meanwhile the SPDR Materials Select Sector ETF (XLB 37.43, -0.56) shed 1.5%.

Due to the continued weakness in materials, the space is the only S&P sector trading in the red this year.

Worries surrounding global growth have also had an impact on the industrial sector. Transportation-related stocks saw intraday underperformance, but the Dow Jones Transportation Average ended the session in-line with the broader market, closing down 1.5%.

After soaring more than 40.0% on Monday, the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX 16.50, +2.54) crept above those highs before ending below 17.

Today's selling took place on heavy volume as 866 million shares changed hands on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

Tomorrow, weekly initial and continuing claims will be reported at 8:30 ET while March leading indicators and the April Philadelphia Fed Survey are both set to cross the wires at 10:00 ET. Among earnings of note, Freeport-McMoRan (FCX 28.00, -1.25) and PepsiCo (PEP 78.85, -1.15) will report their results before the opening bell.DJ30 -138.19 NASDAQ -59.96 SP500 -22.56 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 474/1.84 bln/2009 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 685/866.0 mln/2373

3:30 pm :

May crude oil fell for a fourth consecutive session, trading as low as $86.06 per barrel in afternoon floor trade. Weakness came on a stronger dollar index and inventory data released this morning. Although crude oil inventories were bullish, distillates had an unexpected build of 2.364 mln barrels vs expectations for a draw of 0.325 mln barrels. The energy component settled 2.3% lower at $86.66 per barrel.
May natural gas briefly dipped into the red and to a session low of $4.15 per MMBtu in morning floor trade. However, it quickly recovered into the black and trended higher for the remainder of its session. It settled at its session high of $4.22 per MMBtu for a 1.4% gain.
June gold chopped around between positive and negative territory during today's floor session. It brushed a session low of $1374.10 per ounce at pit trade open and touched a session high of $1395.20 per ounce in morning action. Unable to hold on to a gain, the yellow metal settled 0.4% lower at $1382.10 per ounce.
May silver lifted off its session low of $22.90 per ounce set at pit trade open and inched higher during early morning action. However, prices fell back into negative territory after peaking at $23.67 per ounce and trended lower until silver settled with a 1.6% loss at $23.29 per ounce.

4:10PM SanDisk beats by $0.06, beats on revs; Non-GAAP gross margins slightly ahead of guidance range; SNDK to guide on CC at 17:00 (SNDK) 55.72 -1.77 : Reports Q1 (Mar) earnings of $0.84 per share, $0.06 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.78. Revenues rose 11% YoY to $1.341 bln versus $1.304 bln Capital IQ consensus.

SanDisk reports Q1 non-GAAP gross margin of 40.5% versus guidance of 38% +/- 200 bps versus 36% in the same quarter as last year

"Our SSD products drove 20 percent of sales and we delivered a record first quarter retail revenue," said Sanjay Mehrotra, president and chief executive officer of SanDisk. "Our strong results reflect an improved product mix and continued favorable industry supply and demand conditions. We believe our position in enterprise and client SSD markets, differentiated retail brand and continued focus on profitable growth provide us with solid momentum for continued gains in 2013."

SNDK conference call begins at 17:00. On the call, The company is expected to guide on the call for FY13 revenue where consensus stands at $5.654 bln (Prior guidance $5.3-5.6 bln). In addition, the company is expected to guide for Q2 revenue stands at $1.345 bln. Some peers in the space include: WDC, STX, MU


4:04PM Plexus beats by $0.01, misses on revs; guides Q3 EPS in-line, revs in-line (PLXS) 25.33 -0.07 : Reports Q2 (Mar) earnings of $0.52 per share, $0.01 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.51; revenues fell 2.9% year/year to $557 mln vs the $566.68 mln consensus. Co issues in-line guidance for Q3, sees EPS of $0.55-0.62 vs. $0.58 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q3 revs of $550-580 mln vs. $590.06 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

"Fiscal second quarter revenues were up 5% sequentially to $558 million, with diluted EPS of $0.52. Revenue performance in our Networking/Communications sector was meaningfully below our expectations as several customers struggled with end-market demand. While we experienced forecast volatility in other sectors, the end results for the quarter were relatively in line with our guidance. The previously disclosed disengagement of Juniper Networks remains on track, with production expected to cease as of the end of our fiscal third quarter of 2013."

LSI Corp. (LSI) is working with Nebula to simplify the deployment of scalable storage in private cloud computing infrastructures, while maintaining enterprise-level storage reliability.

Sanmina (SANM) announced that its Wuxi, China Printed Circuit Board facility has achieved AS9100 certification.

Arteris and ARM (ARMH) have signed a multi-year agreement that expands Arteris' access to ARM processor core IP. The two cos have broadened their cooperation to aid the development of future Arteris coherent interconnect IP products that more closely integrate with Arteris' FlexNoC network-on-chip technology and ARM's processor IP.
Microchip Technology (MCHP) announced the OS81118, the first MOST150 Intelligent Network Interface Controller with a USB 2.0 high-speed device port and an integrated coax transceiver.

Microsoft (MSFT) and HonHai signed a worldwide patent licensing agreement that provides broad coverage under MSFT's patent portfolio for devices running the Android and Chrome OS, including smartphones, tablets and televisions.

1:33AM ASML outlines CEO succession plan; Peter Wennink to become CEO July 1; announces new EUR1 bln buy back (ASML) 67.78 : Co announces it has decided upon the new leadership of the company, as the contract of Eric Meurice, President and Chief Executive Officer, ends next year. As of 1 July 2013, ASML's leadership will be comprised as follows:

CFO Peter Wennink will be President and Chief Executive Officer.
Martin van den Brink will be President and Chief Technology Officer.
Eric Meurice will be Chairman of ASML Holding and act as adviser to the new leadership and the Supervisory Board until the end of his contract on 31 March 2014
Peter Wennink will act as interim Chief Financial Officer until a successor has been appointed.

New share buyback program
In addition, co announces its intention to purchase up to an amount of EUR 1.0 bln of its own shares within the 2013-2014 timeframe, starting 18 April 2013.

07:52 am Linear Tech shares fall 3% despite beat on earnings
Linear Tech (LLTC $35.60 -1.08) reported third quarter GAAP earnings of $0.46 per share, $0.03 better than the Capital IQ consensus of $0.43, while revenues rose 0.7% year/year to $314.54 million versus the $313.54 mln consensus. Non-GAAP EPS was $0.54 vs $0.44 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate. The current year fiscal quarter benefited from a lower tax rate of 12.75% as compared to 27% in the previous period and 23.75% in the prior year quarter. The Company's tax rate is lower primarily due to the reinstatement of the federal R&D tax credit and secondarily due to the release of estimated tax liabilities for fiscal years that are no longer subject to audit. During the third quarter the Company's cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities increased by $155.1 million over the second quarter of fiscal year 2013 to $1.455 billion net of spending $24.2 million to purchase approximately 640,000 shares of its common stock in the open market.Co sees Q4 revs +1% to 4% QoQ (calcs to ~$317.65-327.08 million versus the $329.36 million Capital IQ Consensus Estimate).

07:50 am Intel shares down by 1% despite beat on earnings
Intel (INTC $21.78 -0.14) reported first quarter earnings of $0.40 per share, in-line with the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate consensus of $0.40; revenues fell 2.5% year/year to $12.58 billion versus the $12.6 billion consensus. PC Client Group revenue of $8.0 billion, down 6.6% sequentially and down 6.0% year-over-year. Data Center Group revenue of $2.6 billion, down 6.9% sequentially and up 7.5% year-over-year. Other Intel Architecture Group revenue of $1.0 billion, down 3.9% sequentially and down 9.0% year-over-year. Gross margin of 56%, down 2%age points sequentially and down 8%age points year-over-year. Co issues in-line guidance for Q2, sees Q2 revs of $12.4-13.4 bln vs. $12.87 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate. Gross margin%age: 58%, plus or minus a couple%age points. Reaffirms FY13 low single digit rev growth (consensus +0.5%), 60% gross margin (+/- few % pts). "Amidst market softness, Intel performed well in the first quarter and I'm excited about what lies ahead for the co. We shipped our next generation PC microprocessors, introduced a new family of products for micro-servers and will ship our new tablet and smartphone microprocessors this quarter. We are working with our customers to introduce innovative new products across multiple operating systems. The transition to 14nm technology this year will significantly increase the value provided by Intel architecture and process technology for our customers and in the marketplace."

LDK Solar (LDK) announced Anhui LDK New Energy Co., Ltd. signed an agreement to sell and transfer all its equity interest in its wholly owned subsidiary, LDK Solar High-Tech (Hefei) Co., Ltd., located in Hefei City of Anhui Province in China, to an affiliate of the Hefei City government, Hefei High Tech Industrial Development Social Service Corporation, for approximately RMB 120 million. Based on the Company's book value, LDK Solar expects to realize a net loss in the range of USD 80 million to USD 90 million for this transaction. Previously, LDK Solar announced a purchase agreement in January 2013 with Shanghai Qianjiang Group, with its consummation subject to relevant governmental approvals. Shanghai Qianjiang Group failed to secure such government approvals by the expiration date of March 30, 2013. "We will do our best to assure a smooth closing of this transaction."