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From Briefing.com: 4:15 pm : The major averages settled with modest gains despite an afternoon stumble. The S&P 500 climbed 0.5% to bring its week-to-date gain to 1.5%.

Equities opened in the red as domestic and foreign economic data reminded investors of a cloudy growth picture. However, the opening strength of defensive sectors quickly overshadowed the early losses, and helped the broader market erase its early weakness.

Consumer staples and utilities outperformed throughout the session as the two sectors settled with respective gains of 1.0% and 0.8%.

The health care space lagged behind its defensively-geared counterparts as biotechnology became the subject of some profit taking following its recent run. The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 184.02, -2.16) settled lower by 1.2%, but is still up 6.7% in May, and higher by 2.1% this week alone.

The underperformance of biotech weighed on the Nasdaq, which trailed the other two major indices throughout the session. In addition, Apple's (AAPL 428.85, -15.01) largest decline in nearly a month also exerted pressure on the Nasdaq as well as the technology sector, which ended with a slim gain. Another large sector component Google (GOOG 915.89, +28.79) rose 3.3% after the company unveiled a music streaming service at its I/O developers conference in San Francisco.

Most other cyclical groups were somewhat shaky as the energy space spent the day in negative territory. Crude oil was down as much as 2.0% before recovering those losses to end little changed at $94.30.

Elsewhere, industrials were pressured by cautious third-quarter revenue guidance from Deere (DE 89.64, -4.13). The machinery manufacturer lost 4.4%, but the relative strength of transportation-related names kept the industrial sector from falling too far behind the broader market.

The Dow Jones Transportation Average rose 0.8% to notch another record high as airlines soared. Southwest Air Lines (LUV 14.34, +0.36) gained 2.6% after hiking its quarterly dividend to $0.04 from $0.01 and announcing a $500 million increase to its share repurchase authorization.

The financial sector was the only growth-sensitive group which remained strong throughout the day. Major banks registered gains across the board as the sector added 0.9%. The group has been the best performer this week, climbing 3.0%.

This morning's economic data was plentiful as April producer prices declined 0.7%, which was cooler than the downtick of 0.5% forecast by the Briefing.com consensus. Meanwhile, core producer prices rose 0.1%, in-line with the Briefing.com consensus.

Industrial production fell 0.5% in April after increasing a downwardly revised 0.3% (from 0.4%) in March. The Briefing.com consensus expected industrial production to decline 0.2%.

Manufacturing production declined 0.4% in April after declining 0.3% in March. The drop was in-line with the weakness reported in nearly all of the regional manufacturing surveys. Durable and nondurable goods manufacturing fell 0.6% and 0.1%, respectively.

The rate of capacity utilization fell to 77.8% from a downwardly revised 78.3% (from 78.5%) in March. That is the lowest level of capacity utilization since January. Manufacturing capacity utilization dropped to 75.9%, which is the first time since November 2012 that the utilization rate slipped below 76%.

Separately, the Empire Manufacturing Survey for May registered a reading of -1.43, which was down from the prior month's reading of 3.1. Economists polled by Briefing.com had expected that the survey would rise to 3.5.

The May NAHB Housing Market Index was unchanged at 44. Today's report was in line with the Briefing.com consensus.

Another busy day of economic data reporting is setting up for tomorrow. Weekly initial claims, April CPI, core CPI, housing starts, and building permits are all scheduled for an 8:30 ET release. This will be topped off by the May Philadelphia Fed Survey, which is set to cross the wires at 10:00 ET.DJ30 +60.44 NASDAQ +9.01 SP500 +8.44 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1390/1.76 bln/1081 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1652/742.3 mln/1370

3:30 pm :

June crude oil sold off to a session low of $92.16 per barrel following inventory data that showed a draw of 0.624 mln barrels when a build of 0.375 mln was anticipated. However, the energy component saw a reversal moments later and pushed higher. It erased the earlier losses as it crossed the unchanged line in afternoon floor action and settled 0.1% higher at $94.23 per barrel.
June natural gas traded higher for a third consecutive session, rising as high as $4.08 per MMBtu in morning floor trade. It chopped around for the remainder of the session just below that level and settled with a 1.2% gain at $4.07 per MMBtu.
June gold fell for a fifth consecutive session as a stronger dollar pressured prices. The yellow metal fell below $1400 per ounce after retreating from a session high of $1416.50 per ounce. It dipped to a session low of $1389.00 per ounce and settled at $1396.40 per ounce, booking a loss of 2.0%.
July silver also struggled in the red for its entire session. Prices fell as low as $22.45 per ounce in late morning action despite touching a session high of $23.00 per ounce moments after floor trade opened. Silver eventually settled 3.1% lower at $22.66 per ounce.

6:48PM Amkor announces pricing of $225 mln of its 6.375% senior notes due 2022 (AMKR) 4.52 -0.06 : Co announced that it has priced and increased the size of its previously announced offering to $225 million aggregate principal amount of its 6.375% Senior Notes due 2022. The offering is expected to close on May 20, 2013, subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions. The Notes will be issued at a premium and priced at 103% to yield 5.951% and will be senior unsecured obligations of the company. Interest will be payable semi-annually at a rate of 6.375% per annum on April 1 and October 1 of each year, commencing on October 1, 2013. The Notes will be issued as additional notes under an indenture dated as of September 21, 2012 pursuant to which Amkor previously issued $300.0 million aggregate principal amount of 6.375% Senior Notes due 2022. The Notes will rank equally with and form a part of a single class of securities with the Existing Notes. "We expect to use the net proceeds of the Notes offering for general corporate purposes, which may include, among other things, capital additions, acquisitions and other investments."

6:29PM JDS Uniphase repurchase 1% senior convertible notes due 2026 at the option of holders (JDSU) 13.36 +0.06 : Co announced that pursuant to the terms of the Indenture governing JDSU's 1% Senior Convertible Notes due 2026 (CUSIP No. 46612J AD 3) (the "Notes"), certain holders of the Notes have surrendered their Notes for purchase by JDSU, exercising their redemption right under the Indenture (the "Put Option"). The Put Option expired at 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on Wednesday, May 15, 2013. At the expiration of the Put Option, $160,576,000 in aggregate principal amount of Notes were validly tendered and not validly withdrawn. The purchase of the Notes tendered will be funded by JDSU's available cash.

5:46PM Seagate Tech announces pricing of $1 bln senior notes offering (STX) 40.61 -0.24 : Co announced the pricing of its previously announced offering of $1.0 billion aggregate principal amount senior notes due 2023. The Notes were priced at 100% of the aggregate principal amount and will bear interest at a rate of 4.75% per annum. The Notes will be issued by Seagate HDD Cayman, an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Seagate Technology plc, and guaranteed by Seagate Technology plc. Seagate estimates that the net proceeds from the offering will be approximately $987 million after deducting discounts and estimated offering expenses. Seagate intends to use the net proceeds from the offering of the Notes to replenish cash associated with the recent redemption of the 10% Senior Secured Notes, to retire up to an aggregate amount of $250 million of outstanding senior notes, and for general corporate purposes, which may include, but are not limited to, capital expenditures and other investments in the business, and other repurchases of indebtedness.

4:10PM Cisco Systems beats by $0.02, reports revs in-line (CSCO) 21.21 -0.06 : Reports Q3 (Apr) earnings of $0.51 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.02 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.49; revenues rose 5.4% year/year to $12.22 bln vs the $12.18 bln consensus.

Cash flows from operations were $3.1 bln for the third quarter of fiscal 2013, compared with $3.3 bln for the second quarter of fiscal 2013, and compared with $3.0 bln for the third quarter of fiscal 2012.

Cash and cash equivalents and investments were $47.4 bln at the end of the third quarter of fiscal 2013, compared with $46.4 bln at the end of the second quarter of fiscal 2013, and compared with $48.7 bln at the end of fiscal 2012.

Cisco repurchased ~41 mln shares of common stock under the stock repurchase program at an average price of $20.85 per share for an aggregate purchase price of $860 mln. As of April 27, 2013, Cisco had repurchased and retired 3.8 bln shares of Cisco common stock at an average price of $20.35 per share for an aggregate purchase price of ~$77.7 bln since the inception of the stock repurchase program. The remaining authorized amount for stock repurchases under this program is ~$4.3 bln with no termination date.

"Cisco is executing at a very high level in a slow, but steady economic environment. We are especially pleased with our ninth consecutive record revenue quarter. We are starting to see some good signs in the US and other parts of the world which are encouraging. We have the right products, the right solutions and our customers are coming to us to solve their biggest business problems. The pace of change is increasing and Cisco is well positioned."

4:07PM Mellanox Tech to acquire Kotura at a total cash purchase price of ~ $82 mln; expects transaction to be accretive to full fiscal year 2014 earnings by ~ $0.01 to $0.03 per share on a non-GAAP basis (MLNX) 55.00 +1.82 : Co expects the proposed acquisition of Kotura to enhance its competitiveness and its position as a leading provider of high-performance, end-to-end interconnect solutions for servers and storage systems.

8:46AM Solar names higher, boosted by SPWR guidance and news from several names in group (TAN) : STP +11.1% (Suntech Power Agrees on New Forbearance Agreement with Convertible Note Holders), SPWR +7.1% (guidance), CSIQ +5.8% (Canadian Solar's Partner Romano Wins Eskom Rooftop Project in Johannesburg), TSL +3.5%, FSLR +3.1%

8:26AM TriQuint Semi announces $75 mln stock repurchase program (TQNT) 6.00 :

TXCC +10% (hires Needham & Company to evaluate strategic alternatives)

8:03AM SunPower guides Q2 revs in line; sees EPS above consensus (SPWR) 19.03 :

The company's second quarter 2013 consolidated non-GAAP guidance is as follows:
revenue of $550 million to $600 million (Capital IQ consensus $529 mln)
gross margin of 14-16%
net income per diluted share of $0.05 to $0.15 (Capital IQ consensus -$0.03)
megawatts (MW) recognized in the range of 260 MW to 280 MW.
On a GAAP basis, the company expects revenue of $540 million to $590 million, gross margin of 13-15% and net loss per diluted share of ($0.25) to ($0.15).
For fiscal year 2013:
company expects non-GAAP revenue of $2.5 billion to $2.6 billion (Capital IQ consensus $2.559 bln)
gross margin of 15-17%
net income per diluted share of $0.60 to $0.80 (Capital IQ consensus $0.57)
capital expenditures of $60 million to $80 million
gigawatts (GW) recognized in the range of 1.0 GW to 1.1 GW.
On a GAAP basis, the company expects revenue of $2.6 billion to $2.7 billion, gross margin of 15-17% and net income (loss) per diluted share of ($0.05) to $0.20. SunPower remains committed to reducing its operational expenses by 10 percent compared to 2012 and expects to generate free cash flow, including lease financings, in the range of $100 million to $200 million while continuing to invest in its technology roadmap and manufacturing cost reduction initiatives.

SunPower will provide additional details on the company's second quarter and fiscal year 2013 outlook during its 2013 Analyst Day to be held today, May 15, 2013 starting at 10:00 am Eastern Time.

8:01AM DSP Group files investor presentation; challenges Starboard's claims (DSPG) 8.09 : Co announced that it has filed a presentation with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The presentation discusses in detail the Company's strategies to improve performance, the superb qualifications of DSP Group's director candidates and the Company's progress in positioning itself for expected growth in its key markets.

Starboard's proxy fight is about seeking to gain a majority on the Company's board of directors. Starboard has already appointed two directors to the DSP Group board, and they have nominated three more candidates for election. Starboard claims that it is merely seeking to ensure that alternative viewpoints are presented to the Board. If this were Starboard's only objective, the activist hedge fund would not have rejected the Company's settlement offer of four of ten seats on the Board, along with significant committees representation and leadership.

In response, Co said its stock performance year-to-date and for the trailing twelve months is significantly better than the performance of the NASDAQ Composite Index and the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index for the same periods.

LSI (LSI) announced that it has moved into the No. 2 position in the enterprise PCIe flash adapter market segment, according to leading market research firms.

3:43AM LDK Solar reports adjustment on FY12 results; takes additional provision for warranty and long-term contract termination penalty of ~$14.8 mln (LDK) 1.37 : Co announces that during the course of the preparation of LDK Solar's 2012 annual report, LDK Solar's management determined that an additional provision for warranty and long-term contract termination penalty of ~$14.8 mln and a reversal of previously recognized gain on restructuring of payables of ~$21.0 mln were required to properly adjust previously announced preliminary unaudited financial results for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2012.

The additional provision for warranty and long-term contract termination penalty was based on updates in LDK Solar's negotiation with relevant counterparties regarding the settlement plan for the contractual obligations under certain contracts. The reversal of previously recognized gain on restructuring of payables was adjusted to reflect the increased risk of reversal of previously agreed discount, because of recent non-performance of certain contractual terms under a payable restructuring contract.

HP (HPQ) announced the HP SlateBook x2 and the HP Split x2, two detachable PCs that offer the full functionality of a notebook with a removable screen that also is a sleek tablet.

AMD (AMD) launched the AMD Radeon HD 8970M, the world's fastest notebook graphics card.

Agilent (A) reported second quarter earnings of $0.77 per share, excluding non-recurring items, $0.10 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.67; revenues fell 0.1% year/year to $1.73 billion versus the $1.74 billion consensus. The company issued downside guidance for Q3, sees EPS of $0.60-0.64, excluding non-recurring items, versus the $0.73 Capital IQ consensus and revenues of $1.63-1.66 billion versus the $1.75 billion consensus. The company issued downside guidance for fiscal year 2013 with lowered top top end of EPS to $2.70-2.85 from prior guidance of $2.70-3.00, excluding non-recurring items, versus the $2.88 Capital IQ consensus. The company also lowered fiscal year 2013 revenues to $6.75-6.85 bln from prior guidance of $6.9-7.1 bln versus the $6.99 billion consensus. Orders of $1.69 billion were reported in Q2 of 2013. "We were pleased to have exceeded EPS guidance for the quarter, reflecting our focus on cost control and profitability in the face of the worldwide economic slowdown and the impact of U.S. sequestration. We expect the macroeconomic environment to remain challenging throughout the second half of 2013 and are taking additional actions to strengthen our operating performance." Stock Repurchase Program: Agilent announced today that its board of directors has authorized an increase of $500 mln to its existing stock repurchase program. Under the increased program, the company is authorized to repurchase up to $1 bln of its common stock, inclusive of amounts repurchased since Nov. 1, 2012. Agilent expects the program to be completed by the end of calendar year 2013. Targeted Restructuring Program: Agilent also announced today that it has initiated a targeted restructuring program that is expected to reduce Agilent's total headcount by ~450 regular employees, representing ~2 percent of its global workforce. The timing and scope of workforce reductions will vary based on local legal requirements. When completed, the restructuring program is expected to result in an ~$50 mln reduction in annual operating expenses.

Photronics (PLAB) reported second quarter earnings of $0.08 per share, $0.01 worse than the Capital IQ consensus of $0.09, while revenues fell 9.2% year/year to $106.7 million versus the $108.46 mln consensus.

LDK Solar (LDK) announces that during the course of the preparation of LDK Solar's 2012 annual report, LDK Solar's management determined that an additional provision for warranty and long-term contract termination penalty of approximately $14.8 million and a reversal of previously recognized gain on restructuring of payables of approximately $21.0 million were required to properly adjust previously announced preliminary unaudited financial results for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2012. The additional provision for warranty and long-term contract termination penalty was based on updates in LDK Solar's negotiation with relevant counterparties regarding the settlement plan for the contractual obligations under certain contracts. The reversal of previously recognized gain on restructuring of payables was adjusted to reflect the increased risk of reversal of previously agreed discount, because of recent non-performance of certain contractual terms under a payable restructuring contract.

10:58 am Technology trading slightly higher and outpacing the broader market
The tech sector is trading higher today, just outpacing the broader market. Semiconductors are showing relative strength as well with the SOX trading 0.9% higher. Within the chip index, WFR (+5.7%) is a notable standout. Among other major indices, the SPY is trading 0.1% lower today, while the QQQ and the NASDAQ are trading 0.1% higher on the session. Among tech bellwethers, GOOG (+2.2%) is showing notable strength, while AAPL (-1.9%) is under pressure.

In tech earnings last night, A (+4.7%) posted a beat and guided below consensus, but increased its repurchase program. Also, XONE (-9.8%) posted a modest operating miss and reaffirmed guidance This morning in tech earnings, CSC (-6.2%) posted a mixed qtr, In news, TXCC (+2.2%) hired Needham & Company to evaluate strategic alternatives. Among IPOs, RKUS (-5.9%) is lower with its lock-up expiring. In rumors, we are hearing CSCO (-0.4%) for RHT (+1.6%) making the rounds. In notable analyst upgrades this morning in the tech space, ELX (-0.5%) was upgraded to Neutral from Sell at Goldman, FIO (+2.0%) was upgraded to Buy from Neutral at UBS and AMAT (+0.6%) was upgraded to Outperform at Pacific Crest. Also, MRIN (+16.9%) was added to short-term buy list at Deutsche Bank, while ORCL (+1.1%) was added to Focus List at Lazard and PANW (-0.2%) and MDR (-1.4%) were removed. Among downgrades, BBRY (+1.0%) was downgraded to Mkt Perform at Bernstein, Oppenheimer downgraded RENN (-5.2%) to Perform, and MOLX (-1.2%) was downgraded to Neutral at Longbow. CSCO (-0.4%) is the only notable name in tech scheduled to report quarterly results today after the close.