Russell 2000 futures moving up
The Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) futures are higher and the small-cap index will likely open with a rise despite news of a steep jobs decline.
Payrolls decreased a more-than-expected 80,000 in March, the U.S. Labor Department reported before the opening. The unemployment rate jumped to 5.1% from 4.8% in February. The data confirm fears of a slowing economy.
Today is all about the monthly Employment Report release. Interestingly, the market has had several bullish short-term employment days in recent months, but those moves lacked staying power in the overall bear market run.
Small-cap stocks on Thursday basically put in a repeat performance of the previous session, but the Russell 2000 did manage to tack on a mild gain of 1.31, or 0.18%, closing at 713.57. Key resistance Friday comes in at 724, then at 731, while support is down at 705, 700 and 685.
Here are the biggest percentage gainers and losers in pre-market trading among companies with a market cap between $100 million and $750 million:
Biggest percentage gainers:
• Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. (Nasdaq:OMEX), up 9% on news Spain withdrew its claim over a treasure discovered by the company.
• Corinthian Colleges, Inc. (Nasdaq:COCO), up 7%.
• Dendreon Corp. (Nasdaq:DNDN), up 5% on news it will raise $46 million.
Biggest percentage losers:
• The9 Ltd. (Nasdaq:NCTY), down 9%.
• NutriSystem Inc. (Nasdaq:NTRI), down 6%.
• China Finance Online Co. (Nasdaq:JRJC), down 2%.
Kevin Pendley contributed to this report.
