Small-cap stocks pushed higher in early trading, but slipped into the red after sobering consumer sentiment figures from the University of Michigan. At 10:01 a.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was down 2.96, or 0.41%, at 714.12.

The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment survey came in below expectations at 62.6% versus the median forecast of about 63.5%, and at 26-year lows, which appeared to spark a wave of selling across equities. The downside press after the Michigan numbers was a little surprising, because the survey seldom moves the market more than a few ticks. However, it may have simply been just an excuse for short-term longs to book profits ahead of the weekend instead of battling through key overhead chart resistance.

Once again, the market appeared to find initial buying interest on the back of earnings news, with American Express (NYSE:AXP) beating the forecast this morning, and climbing about 3% after the cash open. However, tech leader Microsoft (Nasdaq:MSFT) stumbled about 4% after the opening on sluggish earnings, so the news was mixed on some of the big name issues early today. Overseas stock market index products generated a nice rally, which provided a boost to investor psychology to start the session. European shares rose to three-week highs, while Japan’s Nikkei was up 2.3%.

President Bush held a very brief announcement about 15 minutes ahead of the stock market opening to let Americans know that their economic stimulus rebate checks were literally in the mail. The immediate response in stock futures trading . . .

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