Weak new homes sales hit Russell
The Russell 2000 (NYSE: IWM) is the leading loser and the Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU) is also down as stocks fall on news of a drop in new U.S. homes sales in June.
At 10:38 a.m. ET the Russell 2000 was down 13.62 points, or 1.68%, to 798.88. The Dow had lost 123.64 points, or 0.90%, to 13,661.43.
Investors are heading for the exits following the release of a report that shows the slump in the U.S. housing sector continues to get worse.
Sales of new one-family houses in June fell 6.6% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 834,000, the U.S Census Bureau said after the start of trading. Economists were anticipating a slight increase to 900,000 from May’s revised rate of 893,000.
On a year-over-year basis, new home sales are down 22.3%.
The bears first came out to play as soon as the opening bell rang, emboldened by news that orders for durable goods increased 1.4% in June, below the anticipated rise of 1.7%.
However, durable goods orders fell 0.7% when excluding the volatile transportation sector. Observers were forecasting a rise of 0.6%.
The following are the most actively traded companies in Thursday's trading among those with market capitalizations under $500 million:
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| 10:35 et | Change | Change | Volume | Year High | Year Low |
