Russell 2000 biggest loser
Stocks are in the red following news of a decline in U.S. housing starts for the month of May. At 11:54 a.m. ET the Russell 2000 was down 2.46 points, or 0.29%, to 843.82. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.95 points, or 0.01%, to 13,611.03.
Alexandria, Minn.-based Rural Cellular Corp. (Nasdaq: RCCC), which provides wireless communications services in rural America, has purchased a high-capacity WAP solution that will allow it to better stream content to users’ handsets. The WAP gateway, produced by Interop Technologies, can deliver customized content with the operator’s brand and increase capacity without disrupting existing service, Rural Cellular reported before market open. The company said that it hopes the acquisition will help it better deliver content such as news, sports and weather. The financial parameters of the deal were not revealed. Shares have lost $1.21, or 3%, to $36.73.
Inovio Biomedical Corp. (AMEX: INO) reported before the start of trading that its Phase I/II study of a therapy for recurrent breast cancer was well-tolerated and achieved a 75% complete tumor response rate. The study results will be presented at the VII Madrid Breast Cancer Conference, to be held in Spain from June 20-22, the San Diego-based company said. The therapy’s marketing potential currently being assessed. Shares are up $0.04, or 1%, to $2.84.
Shares of Acorda Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ACOR) are higher following news the Hawthorne, N.Y.-based biopharmaceutical company has received an analyst upgrade. William Ho of brokerage firm Banc of America Securities LLC raised the stock’s rating to “Buy” from “Neutral,” saying that he’s optimistic the multiple sclerosis drug Fampridine will show optimistic results in a late stage drug trial, according to news reports before the opening bell. Additionally, the target price of $26 has been reiterated. However, Ho warned that the stock is likely to be volatile during the summer. Shares are up $0.87, or 5%, to $19.31.
U.S. housing starts fell 2.1% in May to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.474 million, the Commerce Department reported before the opening bell. That’s the first decline since January’s drop of 13.9%.
Economists were projecting a steeper decline of 3.5% to an annualized rate of 1.474 million. April saw a rise of 1% to 1.506 million units. Housing starts are 24% lower compared to May of 2006.
Housing starts, which measure the number of residential units on which construction has begun, increased the most in the Northeast and Midwest, but dropped in the West and South.
However, the number of building permits issued increased, indicating a planned rise in future construction.
