Stocks falling
The Russell 2000 (NYSE: IWM) and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU) are down this morning.
At 9:59 a.m. ET the small-cap index had shed 4.49 points, or 0.56%, to 794.44. The Dow was down 33.25 points, or 0.25%, to 13,345.62.
Investors are eagerly awaiting data on existing homes sales for July, which will be released by the National Association of Realtors at 10 a.m. ET. Economists don’t think that the slump in the U.S. housing sector has bottomed out and expects that sales have fallen to an annual pace of 5.7 million from 5.75 million in June.
Elsewhere, shares of Gateway Inc. (NYSE: GTW) are up more than 50% following news that the Irvine, Calif.-based computer maker will be purchased by Taiwan’s Acer Inc. for $710 million, or $1.90 a share. That’s 57% above the closing price of $1.21 on Friday.
The combined company will become the world’s third largest seller of personal computers.
Meanwhile, Pittsburgh-based United States Steel Corp. (NYSE: X) has agreed to acquire Canada’s Stelco Inc. for $1.04 billion, a move to strengthen its position in the North American flat-rolled steel products market.
The following are the most actively traded companies with market capitalizations under $500 million:
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| 9:56 et | Change | Change | Volume | Year High | Year Low |
