Lower Close Over Greater Than Expected Job Losses

The markets trimmed its losses but still closed lower over a disappointingly high number of job losses in July. The Dow lost 21 points to 10,653 while Nasdaq slipped 4 points to 2288.

On the upside

Second quarter earnings for Radiant Systems (Nasdaq: RADS) nearly doubled to top analyst estimates as revenue climbed prompting the company to lift its full year outlook.

PerkinElmer (NYSE: PKI) reported higher second quarter earnings that more than doubled to beat expectations and the company raised its guidance for 2010.

Second quarter earnings surged for Sotheby's (NYSE: BID) to surpass analyst estimates by a wide margin as revenue soared.

On the downside

PharMerica (NYSE: PMC) disappointed with sharply lower second quarter earnings.

UBS analyst Amitabh Passi said that Jabil Circuit's (NYSE: JBL) management team has adopted a more cautious view of the upcoming quarter.

Kendall Law Group is investigating Grand Canyon Education (Nasdaq: LOPE) for possible breaches of fiduciary duties by company directors and executives.

In the broad market, declining issues outpaced advancers by a margin of nearly 5 to 4 on the NYSE and by more than 7 to 5 on Nasdaq. The Russell 2000 which tracks small cap stocks lost 4 points to 650.