Stocks open higher
Better-than-expected economic news this morning prompted buying of stocks on the opening.
At 9:58 a.m. ET the Russell 2000 was up 1.18 points, or 0.14 percent, to 815.36. Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 42.26 points, or 0.32 percent, to 13,426.10.
U.S. housing starts rose a greater-than-expected 2.5% in April to an annualized rate of 1.528 million, the Commerce Department reported before the opening bell. Economists were projecting a drop of 2.2% to 1.485 million.
April’s industrial output increased 0.7%, the U.S. Federal Reserve said before the start of trading. That’s more than twice the projected rise of 0.3%. Industrial production has expanded 1.9% over the past 12 months.
The following are the most actively traded companies in Wednesday's trading among those with market capitalizations under $500 million:
| Price at | % | ||||||
| 9:54 et | Change | Change | Volume | Year High | Year Low |
