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From Briefing.com: 4:20 pm : The S&P 500 added 0.1% to register its third consecutive advance. Although stocks finished in positive territory, their gains were capped by Treasury yields hitting their highest levels since July 2011.

Treasuries began displaying weakness overnight as the Asian session got underway. The selling paused briefly during U.S. pre-market action before a slate of better-than-expected economic data lent support to the belief that the Federal Reserve would begin slowing the pace of its asset purchases at the upcoming September 17/18 policy meeting. With the August jobs report scheduled to be released tomorrow, the recent behavior of the Treasury market suggests participants are expecting a strong nonfarm payrolls number (Briefing.com consensus 177,000). The benchmark 10-yr yield rose eight basis points to 2.98%.

Interest rates have been on the rise throughout the quarter, and that has pressured the most rate-sensitive sectors. Consumer staples (-0.1%), telecom services (-0.8%), and utilities (-0.4%) finished at the bottom of today's leaderboard, which widened their third quarter losses. Since the start of July, the three sectors are down 0.5%, 6.2%, and 3.2%, respectively.

Meanwhile, the last countercyclical group, health care, rose 0.2% to maintain its quarter-to-date gain of 5.1%. The sector has been able to outperform other defensive groups thanks to big gains in biotechnology. The iShares Nasdaq Biotechnology ETF (IBB 201.92, +0.54) is higher by 16.1% this quarter.

Cyclical sectors were responsible for today's advance as energy (+0.3%), industrials (+0.3%), and materials (+0.3%) ended in the lead. Notably, the industrial sector received support from transportation companies as the Dow Jones Transportation Average rose 0.6%.

Transports were unperturbed by the increase in their main input cost with crude oil climbing 1.0% to $108.35 per barrel.

Similar to yesterday, financials led early, but surrendered their top spot during afternoon action. Most majors finished ahead of the broader market while real estate investment trusts were pressured by the elevated rates. The Vanguard REIT ETF (VNQ 63.81, -0.68) lost 1.1%.

Participation in today's session was on the light side with only 630 million shares changing hands on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. This was understandable given the ongoing Rosh Hashanah holiday.

This morning was busy in terms of economic data. The ADP Employment Change report estimates 176,000 private sector jobs were created in August. That was pretty much in-line with expectations, but down slightly from the 198,000 created in July.

Initial claims for the week ending August 31 dropped by 9,000 to 323,000 (Briefing.com consensus 333,000). That brought the 4-week moving average for this series to 328,500, which is the lowest level since October 2007. Continuing claims for the week ending August 24 fell by 43,000 to 2.951 million (Briefing.com consensus 2.977 million). That lowered the 4-week moving average by 18,000 to 2.98 million.

Second quarter productivity was revised up to 2.3% from 0.9% while unit labor costs were revised down to 0.0% from 1.4%. The revisions reflect the improved output in the second quarter and the understanding that corporate profits continue to be helped by labor costs being held in check.

The August ISM Non-manufacturing Index jumped to 58.6 from 56.0. The Briefing.com consensus expected the index to fall to 54.5. The index is at its highest point since it was reformulated in January 2008. When compared to the older methodology, the index is at its highest point since December 2005.

Factory orders fell 2.4% in July after increasing an upwardly revised 1.6% (from 1.5%) in June. The consensus expected factory orders to fall 3.7%. Durable goods orders were revised down modestly from -7.3% in the advance release to -7.4%. The underlying trends were essentially unchanged from the advance report. As expected, most of the decline in durable goods orders came from a 19.4% drop in transportation orders. Orders of defense and nondefense aircraft fell an unrevised 44.3%.

Tomorrow's focus will be on jobs with the August nonfarm payrolls, nonfarm private payrolls, unemployment rate, hourly earnings, and average workweek all set to be reported at 8:30 ET.DJ30 +6.61 NASDAQ +9.74 SP500 +2.00 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1508/1.51 bln/988 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1429/630.1 mln/1585

3:30 pm :

Oct crude oil advanced for the second time this week, gaining support from this morning's bullish economic and inventory data. The August ISM Non-manufacturing Index jumped to 58.6 from 56.0, its highest level since it was reformulated in January 2008. In addition, crude oil inventories for the week ending Aug 30 showed a draw of 1.836 mln barrels when a draw of 1.3-2.0 mln barrels was expected. The energy component lifted off its session low of $107.23 per barrel and rose as high as $108.54 per barrel. It eventually settled 1.1% higher at $108.40 per barrel.
Natural gas, on the other hand, sold off sharply into negative territory following inventory data that showed a build of 58 bcf when a smaller build of 54 bcf was anticipated. It brushed a session low of $3.57 per MMBtu after trading as high as $3.72 per MMBtu in early morning pit trade. It settled with a 2.7% loss at $3.58 per MMBtu.
Precious metals extended yesterday's losses as the dollar index advanced following the strong economic data released this morning.
Dec gold brushed a session high of $1400.00 per ounce at pit trade open but quickly slipped into negative territory. Unable to gain much momentum, it settled 1.3% lower at $1372.50 per ounce.
Dec silver also retreated into the red after trading as high as $23.65 per ounce in early morning floor action. It managed to inch higher off of its session low of $23.04 and trimmed losses to 0.8% as it closed at $23.25 per ounce.

4:33PM Aeroflex announces the sale of Aeroflex Test Equipment Services for ~$18.7 mln (ARX) 7.15 +0.13 : Co announced the sale of its Aeroflex Test Equipment Services ("ATES") business to Trescal Limited for approximately $18.7 million. ATES provides calibration and repair services of non-Aeroflex test and measurement equipment in the United Kingdom. ATES was a subsidiary of Aeroflex Limited, a provider of test and measurement equipment to the wireless communications industry. The sale of ATES will allow Aeroflex Limited to enhance its focus on building its core wireless test and measurement equipment business.

4:02PM Finisar reports EPS in-line, revs in-line; guides Q2 EPS above consensus, revs above consensus (FNSR) 22.84 +0.34 : Reports Q1 (Jul) earnings of $0.31 per share, excluding non-recurring items, in-line with the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate consensus of $0.31; revenues rose 20.7% year/year to $266.1 mln vs the $266.04 mln consensus. Co issues upside guidance for Q2, sees EPS of $0.37-0.41 vs. $0.31 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q2 revs of $277-292 mln vs. $272.98 mln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate.

3:20PM NVIDIA announces that the NVIDIA Tegra 4 mobile processor is powering the Xiaomi Mi3 phone (NVDA) 14.91 +0.02 :

Large Cap Gainers

IBN (29.99 +11.28%): Select India names trading higher on Reuters.com article discussing rally in the Rupee as the new central bank head Raghuram Rajan is set to introduce new measures; HDB also higher.
TI (7.98 +9.01%): AT&T (T), American Movill (AMX), and Naguib Sawiris have approached key shareholders who want to exit stakes in TI, according to reports.
FAST (48.66 +6.15%): Reported July net sales of $282.2 mln, higher by 7.8% YoY.

Large Cap Losers

NEM (30.51 -3.51%): Downgraded to Equal-Weight from Overweight at Barclays.
DE (83.03 -1.72%): Initiated with an Underweight at Morgan Stanley.
LTD (57.3 -1.44%): Reported Aug same store sales +2.0% vs +2.1% Retail Metrics consensus.

Mid Cap Gainers

LPX (16.89 +10.68%): Co to acquire Ainsworth for ~$1.1 bln; upgraded to Buy from Hold at Deutsche Bank; upgraded to Buy at DA Davidson; tgt raised to $20.
GRPN (10.91 +5.99%): Upgraded to Overweight from Equal-Weight at Morgan Stanley.
OAS (41.66 +5.2%): Announced acquisitions of ~ 161,000 net acres in the Williston Basin and the redetermination of its borrowing base to $1.5 bln.

Mid Cap Losers

CONN (62.31 -8.78%): Missed on EPS by $0.08, beat on revs; reaffirmed FY14 EPS guidance; raised FY14 comp guidance; Aug comps +31% vs. +18% in Q2.
GEF (53.26 -4.71%): Missed on EPS by $0.09, missed on revs.
MSG (55.97 -3.52%): Co and Azoff Music announced they have reached an agreement to create a new music, media, and entertainment company.

ATMI (ATMI) announced that its current Deputy Chief Legal Officer, Patrick J. Shima, will assume the role of Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer.

Silicon Frontline Technology announced that Lattice Semiconductor (LSCC) picked Silicon Frontline's ESRA software for fast, full-chip ESD analysis.

Fortune has named Ixia (XXIA) as one of its 100 Fastest Growing Companies.

8:06AM Nuance Communications announced that Samsung's (SSNLF) new GALAXY Gear wearable device and Samsung GALAXY Note 3 integrate Nuance's voice and language capabilities (NUAN) 19.23 : Co announced that Samsung's new GALAXY Gear wearable device and Samsung GALAXY Note 3 integrate Nuance's voice and language capabilities as part of Samsung's expanding lineup of S-Voice powered devices. Today's announcement also marks the first use of Nuance's voice and intelligent systems-based technology into the wearables' category as part of a larger expansion of Nuance Cloud Services.

8:03AM Avago Tech announces its Board of Directors has approved a quarterly, interim cash dividend of $0.23 per ordinary share (AVGO) 38.98 : The dividend is payable on Sep 30, 2013 to shareholders of record at the close of business (5:00 p.m.) Eastern Time on Sep 19, 2013.

7:32AM Celestica's Toronto solar lab receives approval from T V Rheinland PTL to provide testing for certification of solar modules (CLS) 10.95 : Co announced that T V Rheinland PTL has audited and approved Celestica's solar lab in Toronto, Ontario, to provide testing required for certification of solar modules. Celestica's Solar Lab is a state-of-the-art facility, with experience in product testing and analysis, and is capable of carrying out tests for a variety of PV standards, including UL-1703 / ULC-1703 and IEC-61215 /IEC-61730.

It operates independently within the Total Quality Management System at Celestica, ensuring the integrity of test procedures and results. The solar lab's testing capabilities and quality system, aligned with T V Rheinland PTL's existing comprehensive regulatory compliance, testing and certification infrastructure, will decrease time-to-market for local solar customers.

NXP Semiconductors (NXPI) announced the launch of TEF665x and TEF668x, the next generation of its successful family of RFCMOS-based, high-performance AM/FM single-chip car radio tuners.

Sigma Designs (SIGM) reported second quarter earnings of $0.06 per share, which is better than expected, while revenues fell 21.2% year/year to $53.8 million which also beat expectations. The company issues in-line guidance for the third quarter with revenues of $54-58 million which is line with expectations.

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