Modest opening for Russell 2000

The Russell 2000 (NYSE: IWM) and the other major U.S. indices opened with modest gains.
 
At 10:34 a.m. ET, the small-cap index had added 6.08 points, or 0.77%, to 791.60. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU) was up 102.75 points, or 0.75%, to 13,728.33.

The futures were pointing up and stocks are rising as investors anticipate the U.S. Federal Reserve’s policy meeting on Tuesday. The Fed is widely expected to lower the federal funds rate, the rate at which commercial banks make overnight loans to each other, from the current level of 4.5%.

The ongoing, some would say intensifying, slump in the U.S. housing sector, combined with slowing growth in business spending and manufacturing, point to a decline in economic growth.

Factor in the credit squeeze, and you’ll begin to understand why many believe the Fed has no choice but to lower its target interest rate to give the economy a boost and ease financial strains.

Meanwhile, Swiss banking heavyweight UBS announced before the start of trading that it will incur $10 billion in subprime write-downs. That will lead the Zurich-based company to report a loss for the fourth quarter and possibly for the entire 2008 year.

The bank responded by selling a stake of itself to the government of Singapore and an undisclosed investor from the Middle East.

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

Biggest percentage gainers:

• Cardica Inc. (CRDC), up 25% after the company announced that it will hold a live webcast of an off-pump coronary artery bypass graft on Jan. 17.
• Security Capital Assurance Ltd. (SCA), up 23% despite news it is facing a class action lawsuit that it misled investors.
• Franklin Bank Corp. (FBTX), up 17% on news of higher fourth-quarter profit.

Biggest percentage losers:

• Myers Industries, Inc. (MYE) down 28% on that GS Capital Partners has sought more time to complete the acquisition of the maker of polymer products.
• NaviSite, Inc. (NAVI), down 27% on news of a wider fiscal first-quarter net loss.
• Force Protection, Inc. (FRPT), down 24%.

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