Russell edges lower on financial jitters
Small-cap stocks edged lower a relatively quiet opening, as jitters about the financial arena and rising crude oil prices were countered by decent earnings news. At 10:00 a.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was down 3.71, or 0.52%, at 706.63.
Federal regulators seized a couple of small banks over the weekend, which cast a modest negative pall over the financial sector this morning. The FDIC took over the First National Bank of Nevada and First Heritage Bank NA of California and sold the banks to Mutual Omaha Bank. Small banks dominated the list of largest percentage losers on the Nasdaq Exchange early this morning.
Concerns about the health of the financial system pulled down the U.S. dollar, which was off about 0.2% against the euro and 0.1% versus the yen. Treasury prices also were on a bid on the bank failure news, but volume was light.
Crude oil prices were pushing higher early this morning, buoyed by reports of attacks on oil pipelines in Nigeria and a fire at a Kuwait refinery. Crude prices on the NYMEX were up nearly 1% in the morning trade, approaching $124.50 dollars a barrel.
While the crude oil pop and the bank failures were negative elements in play this morning for equities, the news didn’t exactly spark a firestorm of selling in stocks, and investors appeared to be waiting for a stronger directional bias to emerge.
It is a big week for earnings, with about 118 of the S&P 500 slated to report quarterly results. One of the key names this morning was Kraft Foods Inc. (NYSE:KFT), as the maker of Oreo cookies beat the forecast and was up about 2.5% shortly after the open.
One of the biggest percentage movers among large-caps this morning was Amgen Inc. (Nasdaq:AMGN), which jumped nearly 15% on news that a trial for an osteoporosis drug went well. Also, private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. announced plans for an IPO, which suggested to some that the market outlook isn’t too bad.
Among broad market sectors, biotechs were the best performers this morning, followed by thrifts and mortgage finance firms. Over the weekend, Congress approved the rescue plan for embattled GSEs, which sparked a morning rise in Fannie Mae (NYSE:FNM) and Freddie Mac (NYSE:FRE). Other sectors performing well today included steel, office REITS, coal and diverse financial services firms.
Conversely, the worst-performing sectors were auto parts, leisure products, Internet retail, housewares and environmental services.
Among individual small caps, Stratus Properties Inc. (Nasdaq:STRS) was off some 11%, giving back gains from last week’s rally. CH Energy Group (NYSE:CHG) was down about 9% on soft earnings news. On the upside, Synthesis Energy Systems Inc. (Nasdaq:SYMX) was up some 17% on news of a joint venture to build a coal plant in West Virginia. EnergySouth Inc. (Nasdaq:ENSI) was up 16% on news that the firm will be purchased by Sempra Energy for $510 million, or $61.50 a share.
