Friday's Closing Update

4:16 PM, Jun 5, 2009 --

• NYSE down 28 (0.5%) to 6,082.64.
• DJIA up 12.9 (0.2%) to 8,763.
• S&P 500 down 2.4 (0.3%) to 940.09.
• Nasdaq down 0.6 (0.03%) to 1,849.

GLOBAL SENTIMENT

• Hang Seng up 0.96%
• Nikkei up 1.02%
• FTSE up 1.88%

DOWNSIDE MOVERS

(-) HOG gets analyst downgrade.

(-) MWE selling shares.

(-) BXP prices 15 million shares.

(-) MRK heart failure drug Rolofylline misses goals.

(-) C down as WSJ report says FDIC wants exec shake-up.

(-) PALM due to release much-anticipated Pre this weekend.

UPSIDE MOVERS

(+) GES extending evening gains seen after earnings beat.

(+) AAPL gains as report says Steve Jobs may return this month.

(+) RTP scraps Chinalco deal for rights issue, JV with BHP.

(+) PMTI says regulators approve consumer laser device for wrinkles.

MARKET DIRECTION

Stocks closed mixed, but very near the even mark. The DJIA's skinny positive finish is enough to push the blue-chip barometer into positive territory for the year. Stocks gained when the May payrolls decline came in better than expected but lost some early gains when lofty energy shares met with selling.

Stock indexes made a significant move to the upside out of the gate before falling back and moving in choppy trading throughout the day. Investors gauged the strength of the economy following a good news-bad news jobs report.

The unemployment rate jumped to 9.4% in May, the highest in more than 25 years, but the pace of layoffs eased. Employers cut 345,000 jobs, the fewest since September. The much smaller-than-expected reduction in payroll jobs is further evidence that the economic slide is slowing. Layoffs have been easing for four months.

Still, the report wasn't enough to convince investors that the economy is out of the woods.

Financial shares rallied yesterday after a brokerage issued an upbeat view on U.S. banks and Goldman Sachs (GS) was upgraded, but they lost momentum as Friday's session wore on.

Citigroup (C) created some uncertainty after reports that regulators are planning to oust Chief Executive Vikram Pandit and other top executives.

Apple (AAPL) CEO Steve Jobs is on track to return to the company from his medical leave of absence as planned.

Palomar Medical Technologies (PMTI) broke strongly out of the gate and rocketed to a 45% gain, after reporting this morning that regulators had signed off on a home-use laser device to treat wrinkles around the eyes.

General Motors (GM) (GMGMQ.PK) has reached a preliminary deal to sell its Saturn distribution network to the No. 2 U.S. dealership group Penske Automotive Group (PAG), the Wall Street Journal said. That provides further assurance that GM's bankruptcy may be short, and it puts Penske in the auto making business.

Investors also embraced Global miner Rio Tinto's (RTP) decision to scrap a planned $19.5 billion tie-up with China's Chinalco. Instead it is pursuing an iron ore joint venture with rival BHP Billiton (BHP) and a share sale to slash its debt.

Crude oil for July delivery fell 37 cents, or 0.5%, to end at $68.44 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It had rallied to as high as $70.32 earlier immediately after the jobs data, topping $70 for the first time in six months. Despite Friday's losses, crude ended the week up 3.2%.