A flat opening
The Russell 2000 and the other major U.S. indices are flat this morning as investors take a breath after Tuesday’s big sell-off.
At 10:19 a.m. ET the Russell 2000 had gained 0.69 points, or 0.08 percent, to 838.17. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 40.24 points, or 0.30 percent, to 13,541.94.
Stocks fell sharply on Tuesday after rating agency Standard & Poor’s threatened to downgrade $12 billion debt securities backed by subprime mortgages due to weakness in the U.S. housing sector. Similarly, rating agency Moody’s Corp. (NYSE: MCO) announced after the close that it has downgraded several such securities.
Some investors are obligated to sell their bonds following a downgrade.
The U.S. dollar responded by falling to an all-time low of against the Euro. One U.S. dollar will now buy you 0.7262 of the currency used by 13 European Union members.
The following were the most actively traded companies in Wednesday’s trading among those with market capitalizations under $500 million:
| Price at | % | ||||||
| 10:16 et | Change | Change | Volume | Year High | Year Low |
