Russell 2000 stays down
The Russell 2000 (NYSE: IWM) and the other major U.S. indices have added to their earlier losses as economic worries make Wall Street jittery.
At 11:48 a.m. ET, the small-cap index was down 12.59 points, or 1.76%, to 703.85. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU) had retreated 142.55 points, or 1.12%, to 12,551.73.
The U.S. economy is barely growing while inflation is edging higher, according to government reports before the start of trading.
The U.S. Commerce Department reaffirmed its initial estimate for fourth-quarter economic growth of 0.6% at an annual rate, disappointing economists expecting an upward revision to 0.8%.
Meanwhile, an index measuring the prices paid by U.S. residents increased 3.9%, above the initial estimate of 3.8%.
Separately, the U.S. Labor Department said that jobless claims for the week ended Feb. 23 were 373,000, a larger-than-expected increase from the preceding week’s upwardly revised level of 354,000.
U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, who is testifying in front of the House Financial Services Committee for the second day in a row, again suggested that he is ready to lower the target federal funds rate in order to give the economy a boost.
Stocks are falling, with shares of companies providing advertising services leading the way.
Brookings, S.D.-based Daktronics Inc. (Nasdaq: DAKT), which makes scoreboards, is seeing its stock sag. Similarly, digital printing company Presstek Inc. (Nasdaq: PRST) is also down.
Elsewhere in the same sector, shares of Gerber Scientific, Inc. (NYSE: GRB), a maker of signs and specialty graphics, are flat.
Bucking the bearish trend is Hurco Companies, Inc. (Nasdaq: HURC). The Indianapolis-based machine tools maker reported fiscal first-quarter profit was $7.8 million, or $1.21 per share, compared with $5.4 million, $0.84 per share during the first quarter of 2007.
