Closing Update for Thursday July 16

4:18 PM, Jul 9, 2009 --

• NYSE up 42.8 (0.8%) to 5,667.37.
• DJIA up 5.1 (0.1%) to 8,183.
• S&P 500 up 3.1 (0.4%) to 882.68.
• Nasdaq up 5.4 (0.3%) to 1,753.

GLOBAL SENTIMENT

• Hang Seng up 0.39%
• Nikkei down 1.38%
• FTSE up 0.43%

UPSIDE MOVERS

(+,-) AA is acknowleged for a better-than-expected quarter, but loses upside momentum.

(+) TGT says sales down, Q2 EPS to meet or beat Street's $0.64.

(+) NVAX inks JV with India-based firm.

(+) GYMB hikes earnings view.

(+) GS gets upgrade.

DOWNSIDE MOVERS

(-) MAPP says license pact terminated.

(-) ELX rejects Broadcom's $11 per share offer, out with earnings.

(-) ARO turns lower despite raising Q2 EPS view.

(-) COMS meets with revnue, beats by a nickel on earnings but turns lower after company says on conference call it expects Q1 sales below expectations.

MARKET DIRECTION

Stocks close with the narrowest of margins Thursday, with the Nasdaq up 0.3%, the DJIA up 0.1% and the S&P 500 up 0.4%. Financials and tech shares were largely firmer.

Broader market gains followed Alcoa's (AA) beat and a drop in jobless claims to January lows. For the period through last Saturday, claims fell 52,000 to 565,000.

Markets showed little reaction to news that wholesale inventories for May decreased 0.8%, less than the 1.0% decrease that had been expected. Wholesale inventories for April were revised slightly higher to reflect a 1.3% decrease

Alcoa (AA) was among the leading volume movers, but gave up its early gains. The company reported a Q2 loss of $0.32 per share. Ex charges, the loss was $0.26 per share, down from a year ago loss of $0.67 per share. The Street was expecting a loss of $0.38 per share. Revenue was $4.2 bln, down from $7.2 bln in the year ago quarter. The Street was expecting $3.93 bln.

June retail results were mixed. Among them, Gymboree (GYMB) moved higher after its sales figures prompted it to raise its EPS guidance. Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF) reported a 32% drop in June same-store sales. Aeropostale (ARO) reports a 12% gain in sales. Target (TGT) reports a drop in June sales but said it expects Q2 EPS to meet or beat the Street's view for $0.64. TJX (TJX) rises on strong June sales and increased Q2 EPS guidance above Street views.