Russell 2000 falls

Alex Alexandrov | Nov 15, 2007 10:23am EST | Comment

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The Russell 2000 (NYSE: IWM) is in negative territory on news of somewhat bearish economic reports and poor earnings from major corporations.

At 10:18 a.m. ET, the small-cap index was down 4.73 points, or 0.60%, to 777.74. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU) had lost 4.80 points, or 0.04%, to 13,226.21.

Consumer prices added 0.3% in October, according to the U.S. Labor Department before the start of trading. The result was expected by economists and mirrors September’s price increase.

Core prices, which exclude the volatile costs of food and energy, added 0.2%, the same rise as in September.

The numbers tell us that inflation remains broadly in check, despite the recent spike in the price of oil and higher energy costs.

However, consumer prices have added 3.5% on a year-over-year basis, while core prices have increased 2.2%. The U.S. Federal Reserve has said that it prefers core prices to stay in the range between 1% and 2%.

In other economic news, the labor market unexpectedly softened for the week ended Nov. 10.

In a separate report the Labor Department said that weekly jobless claims climbed 20,000 to 339,000, the highest level since April. Economists were expecting a much smaller rise of 3,000 from an upwardly revised level of 319,000 the previous week.

Elsewhere, shares of J.C. Penney Company, Inc. (NYSE: JCP) are trading in the red following news that the department store narrowed its third-quarter income and lowered its fourth-quarter outlook.

Similarly, semiconductor maker Applied Materials Inc. (Nasdaq: AMAT) said that it anticipates a fall in future orders.

On the other hand, small-cap digital entertainment company New Motion, Inc. (OTC: NWMO) reported that its third-quarter net sales increased an impressive 88%.

Here are the current biggest percentage gainers and losers among companies with a market cap between $100 million and $750 million:

Biggest percentage gainers:

• Canadian Solar Inc. (CSIQ) up 18% on news on Wednesday of a fourth-quarter outlook exceeding Wall Street’s projections.
• Charlotte Russe Holdings Inc. (CHIC), up 14% on news of higher fiscal fourth-quarter sales.
• Kulicke and Soffa Industries, Inc. (KLIC), up 15% on news of a rise in fiscal fourth-quarter earnings.

Biggest percentage losers:

• Lifeway Foods Inc. (LWAY), down 17% on news of a decline in third-quarter profit.

• GlobalSCAPE Inc. (GSB), down 14% despite news of a rise in third-quarter profit.
• Novatel Wireless Inc. (NVTL) down 13%. A company representative could not be reached for comment.