Russell 2000 futures rise

The Russell 2000 (NYSE: IWM) futures have risen sharply and the small-cap index will likely open higher.

With no major economic releases scheduled for today, investors are focused on news from the corporate sector.

Bullish news came out of IT giant International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM), which reported better-than-expected preliminary quarterly results this morning. The Armonk, New York-based company said that it expects earnings from continuing operations for the quarter ended Dec. 31 to be $2.80 per share, above Wall Street’s consensus estimate of $2.60 per share.

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

Biggest percentage gainers:

• A.S.V., Inc. (ASVI), up 44% on news it is being purchased by Terex Corp. (TEX) for about $488 million.
• DRDGOLD Ltd. (DROOY), up 14%.
• Titan Machinery Inc. (TITN), up 10%.

Biggest percentage losers:

• AspenBio Pharma, Inc. (APPY), down 5%.
• Netscout Systems, Inc. (NTCT), down 3%.
• Steven Madden, Ltd. (SHOO), down 1%.

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