Russell 2000 manages to rise

A rollercoaster ride of trading today ended with the Russell 2000 (NYSE: IWM) gaining ground while the Dow fell after news of a temporary rise in the price of oil. The small-cap index added 1.54 points, or 0.19%, to 824.89. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU) shed 20.40 points, or 0.15%, to 13,892.54.

On a year-to-date basis, the Russell 2000 has increased 4.76%, while the Dow has added 9.11%.

Stocks began on a bullish note following news of better-than-expected third-quarter earnings from tech sector heavyweights Intel Corp. (Nasdaq: INTC) and United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX), but quickly shed those gains halfway through the trading session as the price of oil briefly rose to an intraday high above $88 a barrel.

Investors got jittery around noon ET, after the Turkish parliament overwhelmingly approved a military attack into northern Iraq in order to fight Kurdish rebels, causing the price of oil to clear $88 a barrel before moderating down to $87.40. A cross-border spat could disrupt Iraq’s oil supplies.

Nevertheless, small caps managed to sneak into positive territory just before the close, while the Dow languished in the red.

Meanwhile, U.S. housing starts fell to the lowest annualized pace in 14 years in September. The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that housing starts fell to 1.191 million, missing economists’ projections of 1.285 million. The level in August was an upwardly revised 1.327 million of privately owned housing units.

The stagnation in the housing sector seems to have no end in sight, as building permits, an indicator of future construction plans, also fell.

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