Russell 2000 flat
The Russell 2000 (NYSE: IWM) and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU) are little changed this morning following last week’s discount rate cut.
At 10:03 a.m. ET the Russell 2000 was up 1.66 points, or 0.21%, to 787.69. The Dow was up 0.89 points, or 0.01%, to 13,079.97.
On Friday, the U.S. Federal Reserve lowered the discount rate, the rate it charges commercial banks on loans they receive, to 5.75% from 6.25% in a move to limit the negative effects of the subprime meltdown.
Stocks jumped and ended the day with large gains. Today the major European and Asian stock markets reacted by closing in positive territory.
In the U.S., stocks began the day higher but the positive momentum ran out of steam shortly thereafter.
Contributing good news this morning was home improvement retailer Lowe’s Companies, Inc. (NYSE: LOW), which reported that its second-quarter profit rose to $1.02 billion, or $0.67 per share, above analysts’ forecasted earnings of $0.61 per share. A year earlier the Mooresville, N.C.-based company had a profit of $935 million, or $0.60 per share.
The following are the most actively traded company's with market capitalizations under $500 million:
| Price at | % | ||||||
| 9:52 et | Change | Change | Volume | Year High | Year Low | ||
| PPCO | PENWEST PHARMACEUTICALS CO | 12.83 | +0.36 | +2.9% | 569.5k | 19.91 | 9.43 |
| XHB | SPDR SERIES TRUST | 24.89 | -0.23 | -0.9% | 401.3k | 40.03 | 22.68 |
| LEND | ACCREDITED HOME LENDRS HLDG | 6.66 | -0.09 | -1.3% | 365.1k | 37.15 | 3.77 |
| UNG | UNITED STATES NATL GAS FUND | 41.20 | -2.96 | -6.7% | 354.4k | 54.68 | 37.34 |
| IAI | ISHARES TR | 48.87 | -0.45 | -0.9% | 336.8k | 58.47 | 43.88 |
| BZH | BEAZER HOMES USA INC | 10.70 | -0.39 | -3.5% | 330.1k | 48.60 | 8.10 |
| RTH | RETAIL HOLDRS TR | 97.69 | +0.64 | +0.7% | 276.1k | 126.87 | 89.70 |
| ANCX | ACCESS NATL CORP | 7.80 | +0.25 | +3.3% | 243.8k | 10.05 | 6.89 |
| XLY | SELECT SECTOR SPDR TR | 35.88 | +0.33 | +0.9% | 235.0k | 40.70 | 32.08 |
| NFI | NOVASTAR FINL INC | 7.60 | -0.37 | -4.6% | 227.0k | 131.52 | 4.17 |
