Mild early slip for the Russell
Small-cap stocks edged lower in morning trading, pulled down by follow through jitters from Tuesday’s financial-tied slide and a firm tone in energy as a batch of morning economic data failed to impress investors. At 10:02 a.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was down 1.61, or 0.22%, at 743.33.
The market was already struggling ahead of the economic reports this morning, and there simply wasn’t any upside surprise on the retail sales or import price fronts to spark a recovery move. Still, the retail sales figure was in line with expectations, while the import price surge isn’t exactly a surprise. Import prices soared 1.7%, which was above the forecast, and year-over-year prices were up 21.6%, the highest rate in 26 years, stealing some of the thunder away from retail sales. The jump on inflation reflected in the import price report sparked a modest pullback in Treasury futures, which frown on rising prices that devalue fixed income investments.
The dollar was little changed after the duo of economic reports, but did start to strengthen against the euro into the U.S. stock market open after slipping to six-month highs during Tuesday’s session. The greenback remained soft against the yen, however, and has been in correction mode since leaping to seven-month highs just three sessions ago. The firmness in the yen is a little surprising given a slide in GDP overnight that stirred a 2.1% fall in Japanese equities. Elsewhere around the globe, stocks were trading in weak fashion, with Hong Kong shares off 1.6%, Australia down 2% and India down 0.7%.
At 10:00 a.m. ET, the business inventory report came out at plus 0.7%, which was above the forecast for a rise of 0.4%. This particular data series is somewhat dated (June figures) and tends to have very little lasting impact on stock market traders.
With the economic data now out of the way, stock market traders here in the United States will likely keep a close watch on financials and on crude oil as the day progresses. Crude was up about $0.50 a barrel this morning in the mid-$113 range, waiting for weekly inventory data later this morning. The stocks report is expected to show a drawdown in crude oil inventories of about 200,000 barrels.
In company news, some big names in the tech side of things provided support to the Nasdaq 100 in comparison to the Dow and S&P 500. Applied Materials Inc. (Nasdaq:AMAT) jumped 4% early as the firm projected a surge in orders heading toward autumn. Also, NVIDIA Corp. (Nasdaq:NVDA) was up 8% as the company announced plans to increase its stock buy-back program. Cree Inc. (Nasdaq:CREE) was up 6%, getting a boost from solid earnings.
There is some concern this morning about the cost pressures on manufacturing firms following cautionary tones from Deere & Co. (NYSE:DE) after the firm reported quarterly results. DE shares were off 11% early.
It was interesting to see Citigroup analysts initiate coverage on a couple of homebuilders with a “buy” rating, especially given the ongoing housing slump underway in the United States. Toll Brothers Inc. (NYSE:TOL) was up 0.4% and Pulte Homes (NYSE:PHM) was down 0.2% following the coverage news.
Broad market sectors on the rise this morning were topped by coal, metals and mining, semiconductors, oil exploration, gold, steel and oil drillers. On the downside, tires, farm machinery, regional banks and other diverse financial services firms were taking a hit.
Individual small caps on the move were highlighted by Ultrapetrol Ltd. (Nasdaq:ULTR), which was up 11% in the wake of solid earnings news. Bowne & Co. Ltd. (NYSE:BNE) was up 6%, recovering Tuesday’s slide in choppy post-earnings activity. On the downside, Arc Sight Inc. (Nasdaq:ARST), gapped lower, sinking some 12% while slipping below the 20-day moving average for the first time in a month.
