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From Briefing.com: Weekly Recap - Week ending 18-Jan-13

Dow +53.68 at 13649.7, Nasdaq -1.29 at 3134.71, S&P +5.04 at 1485.98

Equities began the session on a rather uninspiring note, but managed to climb back into positive territory by day's end. The key indices got off to a slow start despite China reporting its 2012 GDP growth at 7.9%. While the reading beat expectations, investor optimism was contained to the Asian session. Domestically, the lone economic data point came from the University Michigan, which reported its preliminary January consumer confidence measure at 71.3. The report was a disappointment and it contributed to the early weakness observed in the major averages.

The S&P 500 and Dow staged an afternoon recovery back into positive territory after headlines out of Washington indicated Republican lawmakers are open to a three-month debt ceiling extension. While the reports were met with initial resistance from top Democrats, the White House was said to be 'encouraged' by the proposal.

The 30-stock Dow Jones was the top performing index, and positive earnings from General Electric (GE 22.04, +0.74) contributed to the relative strength. The conglomerate reported earnings growth in five of its seven segments, and its stock gained 3.5% on the back of the strong results.

While the Dow and S&P 500 registered gains, the Nasdaq ended lower due to pressure from two major components.

Intel (INTC 21.25, -1.43) reported a fourth quarter earnings beat, but its top line results as well as forward guidance were disappointing. The stock slid 6.3% and other semiconductor manufacturers underperformed as well. The PHLX Semiconductor Index slipped 0.5%.

Apple (AAPL 500.00, -2.68) also weighed on tech shares. The stock shed 0.5% after supply concerns were revisited after reports out of Reuters indicated that Sharp, which supplies screens for the iPad, has slowed its production rate. The demand concerns spilled over to other Apple supplier as Qualcomm (QCOM 64.48, -0.45) and Skyworks (SKWS 20.88, -0.78) lost 0.7% and 3.6% respectively.

Additionally, the market received earnings from two major financials. American Express (AXP 59.78, -0.96) settled lower by 1.6% after reporting earnings in-line with its January 10 preannouncement. On the upside, Morgan Stanley (MS 22.38, +1.63) surged 7.9% after reporting a bottom line beat.

Crude oil shed 0.1% and ended at $95.38 after trading in a narrow range for the duration of the session.

Also of note, the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX 12.33, -1.24) sank 9.1% and finished at its lowest level since April 2007.

Floor volume at the New York Stock Exchange was aided by the January options expiration, and totaled 1.07 billion shares, which was well above average.

Sector leadership came from industrials (+1.0%) and the utilities (+0.9%) space. On the downside, technology shares were the biggest laggard (-0.3%), followed by financials (+0.2%).

As mentioned earlier, today's economic data was limited to the preliminary January University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Survey. The report came in at 71.3, which was lower than the 72.9 that was posted in the prior month, and worse than the reading of 75.0 that had been expected by the Briefing.com consensus.

Note that equity and bond markets will be closed on Monday in observance of Martin Luther King Day. On Tuesday, December existing home sales will be reported at 10:00 ET. Among earnings of note, Google (GOOG 704.51, -6.81) and Verizon Communications (VZ 42.54, +0.41) are scheduled to report on Tuesday. Verizon will announce its quarterly results ahead of the opening bell while Google is scheduled for an after-hours release.

Week in Review: Equities Climb to Highest Weekly Close Since 2007

Monday's session began on a lower note after pre-market weakness in Apple (AAPL 500.00, -2.68) weighed on the tech-heavy Nasdaq. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 marked its session low in the 1465 area an hour into the session. The benchmark index then reversed and spent the remainder of the session climbing back near its flat line before finishing with a slim loss. Dell (DELL 12.84, +0.02) was on the move today after Bloomberg TV reported the PC maker is in talks with private equity regarding a potential buyout. Dell surged 13.0% on the news.

On Tuesday, equities began the day with a slightly bearish bias after Germany's 2012 GDP was reported below expectations. Though the news weighed at the open, the major averages showed resilience, and spent the remainder of the session climbing off their lows. As a result, the S&P 500 added 0.1% while the Nasdaq underperformed with a loss of 0.2%. Lennar (LEN 42.08, +0.14) was the first homebuilder to report its fourth quarter results. The report was generally positive as the company's earnings and revenue exceeded the Capital IQ consensus estimates. In addition, the company expects its full-year 2013 gross margins to be in-line with analyst estimates. Despite the upbeat earnings, Lennar settled lower by 0.8%. It should be noted the stock has added over 36% over the past five months, thus strong quarterly results have been largely priced-in.

On Wednesday, major stock market averages started the day on a mixed and uneventful note and that's pretty much how they traded the rest of the day. There were plenty of storylines, but there wasn't any conviction on the part of buyers or sellers outside of some individual stock stories. Boeing (BA 75.04, -0.22) underperformed after two Japanese carriers suspended their Dreamliner flights due to safety concerns.

Thursday's session opened on a strong note after weekly initial claims and housing starts were reported ahead of expectations. Meanwhile, a disappointing Philadelphia Fed Survey was not enough to cool optimism. Key indices spent the duration of the day in a steady upward climb, and the S&P 500 made its biggest advance in more than a week to end higher by 0.6%. The market saw notable support from homebuilders after December housing starts data indicated the demand for fresh construction projects remains strong. The SPDR Homebuilders ETF (XHB 28.21, +0.06) settled higher by 1.9%.

 
 Index	  Started Week  Ended Week  Change % Change  YTD % 
 DJIA	    13488.43     13649.70   161.27   1.2     4.2 
 Nasdaq	     3125.63	  3134.71     9.08   0.3     3.8 
 S&P 500	1472.05	  1485.98    13.93   0.9     4.2 
 Russell 2000  880.77	   892.80    12.03   1.4     5.1

12:19PM Intel sets minor new session low of 21.14 (INTC) 21.14 -1.54 : Stock has been vacillating between the 50% retrace of the Nov-Jan rally and its 50 ema thus far today with the lower end of this zone (21.23/21.14) recently tested. The next level of interest below is at 21.02 (Jan low/gap top).

Intel (INTC) reported fourth quarter earnings of $0.48 per share, $0.03 better than the Capital IQ consensus of $0.45, while revenues fell 3.0% year/year to $13.48 billion versus the $13.53 bln consensus. Q4 GAAP gross margin 58% vs guidance of 57% (+/- couple of percentage points). PC Client Group revenue of $8.5 billion, down 1.5% sequentially and down 6% YoY. Data Center Group revenue of $2.8 billion, up 7% QoQ and up 4% YoY. Other Intel architecture group revenue of $1.0 billion, down 14% sequentially and down 7% year-over-year. The company issued in-line guidance for the first quarter with revenues of $12.2-13.2 billion versus the $12.93 billion consensus with Q1 gross margins in the range of 58% +/- vs Street expectations of 56.6%. The company sees FY13 revenue up in the low single digits vs. the +1.9% consensus, with gross margin of 60% plus or minus a few % pts vs. expectations of approximately 59%.

Xilinx (XLNX) reported third quarter earnings of $0.38 per share, $0.01 better than the Capital IQ consensus of $0.37, while revenues fell 0.3% year/year to $509.8 million versus the $527.33 mln consensus. The company issued downside guidance for the fourth quarter with revenues +2-6% QoQ to approximately $520-540 million versus the $545.21 million consensus, with gross margin of ~66%, in-line with estimates. "New Product sales increased 17% sequentially in the December quarter, driven by robust adoption of Kintex-7 and Virtex-6 FPGAs. Strength from New Products is an encouraging sign in the face of macroeconomic conditions that remained challenging during the quarter. Exiting calendar 2012, I believe we have the strongest product portfolio in our history, a generation ahead of the competition. Our 28-nm products have gained significant momentum across a broad base of applications with clear leadership in performance, power and integration. Sales from these product families increased nearly 20% sequentially in the December quarter, exceeding expectations."

08:58 am Plexus target raised to $28 at Needham: . Needham raises their PLXS tgt to $28 from $25. Overall, the firm believes Plexus may have some near-term operational hurdles as Juniper transitions away. But the firm remains focused on what they believe is the bigger picture. That is: in the firm's view, PLXS continues to be a top quality EMS name with major new program momentum that should provide buffer, stronger longer-term growth and lead to a healthier overall model.

11:08 am S&P Information Tech index trading lower by -0.6% behind the overall market
The tech sector is trading lower today, just behind narrower losses in the broader market. Semiconductors are showing slight relative weakness with the SOX trading 0.5% lower. Within the chip index, AMD (-6.2%) is a notable laggard. Among other major indices, the SPY is trading 0.2% lower today, while the QQQ is down 0.5% and the NASDAQ is trading 0.4% lower on the session. Among tech bellwethers, VZ (+0.4%) and IBM (+0.4%) are showing notable strength, while INTC (-6.3%) is under pressure.

In tech earnings last night, INTC (-6.3%) posted relatively mixed Q4 results and offered a muted outlook. XLNX (+2.5%) also reported mixed results and guided lower, whereas WIT (-6.9%) posted modestly better than expected results. In news, SNE (+6.3%) announced the sale of 550 Madison Avenue Building to which it expects to realize a gain on the sale of ~$685 mln to be recorded as operating income. Among rumors, VRNG (+7.7%) received a positive patent ruling in case against GOOG (-0.3%), according to reports. Among notable analyst upgrades this morning in the tech space, PLXS (+0.5%) was upgraded to Overweight at JP Morgan, RIMM (+5.5%) was upgraded to Buy at Jefferies, and CSOD (+4.6%) & QLIK (+3.7%) were upgraded to Buy at Goldman. Also, PANW (+3.2%) was added to the Conviction Buy list at Goldman, while N (-2.1%) was removed. Among downgrades, ULTI (-2.1%) was downgraded to Neutral at Goldman and FNSR (-7.8%) was downgraded to Underperform at Jefferies. There are no notable names in tech scheduled to report quarterly results today after the close.