Stubborn Russell clings to minor gain despite manufacturing slump

Small-cap stocks weathered dreadful manufacturing data, plunging car sales, slumping energy stocks and ongoing worries about the economy to post a minor gain Monday. Selling interest was offset by optimism over steady declines for inter-bank lending rates and ideas the bad news on the economy has already been priced into the stock market. The Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) closed up 0.97, or 0.18% at 538.50, posting the fifth consecutive higher close, something that hasn’t happened since early April. For the year, the Russell is now down 30%, while the Dow is off 30% and the S&P 500 is down 34%.

The market opened higher in line with yet another decline in Libor lending rates overnight, and was also bolstered by a gain in Asian stock markets. Even after the ISM Manufacturing Survey missed the forecast, small-cap stocks were reluctant to press the downside. It was interesting to note that today’s range of about 10 handles marked the smallest daily trading range since Aug. 26 and was easily the calmest session seen since the collapse began back in mid-September.

Perhaps some of the calm was tied to investors staying away from the market during a week of heavy economic event risk, or perhaps they were reluctant to aggressively take on positions ahead of Tuesday’s presidential elections in the U.S. Barack Obama is widely expected to carry the popular vote and usher in a transition to the White House, but market watchers are still keenly watching how the Senate and House races shape up. There is some thought that a huge sweep by the Democrats could spark some unrest for the stock market on the idea that the country tends to prefer a “balance” between parties in power.

As for the ISM Manufacturing report, it came in at 38.9%, well below the 50% line indicative of contraction in the manufacturing sector. The data clearly suggest that the economy has downshifted into recession-style economic activity, and today’s individual automaker vehicle sales numbers certainly didn’t paint a . . .

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