Russell lower on data, earnings fail to inspire

Small-cap stocks pushed lower, pulled down by soft economic data, mixed earnings news and a modest rise in crude oil prices. At 10:04 a.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was down 4.87, or 0.68%, at 714.32.

Tech stocks were strong relative to other index products, underpinned by strong earnings from Amazon.com (Nasdaq:AMZN), which rallied 9% early today after topping the Street’s forecast.

The stout results from AMZN were not a recurring theme this morning, however, with earnings from Dow Chemical (NYSE:DOW) and Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F) both missing the forecast. DOW was off 0.4% and F down 3.2% on the opening.

Existing home sales for June fell 2.6% to an annual rate of 4.86 million units, which was below the forecast of 4.93 million. It marked the lowest level in 10 years and was down 15% from last year. In addition, the inventory of homes available for sale rose to 11.1 months, up from 10.8 months in the May report. The national median home price also tumbled 6.1% from last year.

Ahead of the open, data on weekly claims came in much higher than expected, painting a somber picture on the employment front. The headline figure for weekly claims was at 406,000, far above the forecast of 380,000. Continuous claims dipped slightly, but the 4-week moving average rose. The immediate response to the jobs data was a brief erosion in the U.S. dollar, a rise in Treasury markets and an extension of the dip in overnight stock derivatives. However, there was some thought that the weekly claims report was at risk for an upside surprise amid layoffs in autos, airlines and banks.

Crude oil prices were higher heading into the stock market open, climbing back above $125 dollars a barrel in a mild bounce after a steep $4 drop Wednesday that put an exclamation point on a recent $23 collapse. It’s interesting to see that open interest in crude oil futures is near 18-month lows, which suggests that . . .

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