Afternoon Market Update (COH, GES, MW, LULU, SNPS, VIRL)

The retail sector has started moving up, although retailers have cautioned against an increase in raw materials costs and macroeconomic concerns. Executives of retail companies such as Coach Inc

and Guess? Inc

had indicated that they are seeing positive sales trends. Men's Wearhouse Inc

and yoga-inspired athletic clothing retailer Lululemon Athletica Inc

are both moving up after they reported better-than-expected Q1 profit. The S&P Retail Index rose 2.3% to 432.03, following the optimistic economic data from China, Japan and Australia that eased investor worries about the global economy. Natural-gas futures trimmed gains following the EIA report that showed a higher-than-expected rise in US stockpiles. Natural gas for July delivery rose 0.4% to $4.70 per million British thermal units. According to the Energy Information Administration report, natural gas in storage increased 99 billion cubic feet, exceeding the expectations of a rise of 91-95 billion cubic feet. Chip design software maker Synopsys Inc

has agreed to buy Virage Logic Corp

. The deal amounts to about $315 million, valuing VIRL at $12 per share. This represents a premium of 28% over the company's closing price of $9.37 on Wednesday. The deal is expected to close in Q4 and will be neutral to Synposys' adjusted earnings for fiscal 2010, but accretive to that in fiscal 2011. After the merger, Chief Executive of VIRL, Alex Shubat, will join Synopsys. Read more