Russell 2000 rising
The Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) has turned around and is posting healthy gains. At 2:03 p.m. ET, the small-cap index had added 4.94 points, or 0.72%, to 691.01. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 37.12 points, or 0.30%, to 12,339.18.
Small-cap stocks have once again reversed course, this time bouncing off their session lows and trending higher. The index moved into positive territory at about 12:30 p.m. ET.
The rebound may be due to investors reacting to news before the opening that regional banks posted first-quarter results that exceeded expectations.
Among the winners is small-cap Enterprise Financial Services Corp. (Nasdaq:EFSC), the parent company of Enterprise Bank & Trust of St. Louis, Mo. Enterprise Financial announced before the opening that profit for the three months ended March 31 rose 13% to $3.6 million from $3.2 million a year earlier.
“Organic banking growth was excellent, underscoring our belief that there is a flight to quality underway in our customer segments on both the deposit and loan sides of our business,” said president and CEO Kevin Eichner in a statement.
Elsewhere, shares of West Bancorporation Inc. (Nasdaq:WTBA), which owns West Bank and investment advisory firm WB Capital Management Inc., have added 1%.
