Small caps limp through Tuesday; IDMI, CQB and LRN lead gainers

The Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) failed to eke out a gain at Tuesday’s close, staying focused instead on the global recession, slumping homebuilder confidence and money flow into credit instruments. Some of today’s small-cap gainers were IDM Pharma (Nasdaq:IDMI), Chiquita Brands (NYSE:CQB) and K12 Inc. (NYSE:LRN).

Other Market Watch highlights today included:

• The PPI report headline figure came in at minus 2.8%, which was a much bigger decline than the forecast of 1.8%.
• Money appeared to moving into credit markets today, with the yield on benchmark 10-year notes down 2.94%.
• Energy stocks still outperformed the market for the day but commodities remain sensitive to demand concerns amid a slumping global economy.
• Analysts at JP Morgan said that commodity prices – especially agriculture products – should outperform energy and industrial raw material products in 2009.
• For the year, the Russell is now down 42%, while the Dow is down 36% and the S&P 500 is down 41%.

Small Cap Gainers:

• IDM Pharma Inc. (Nasdaq:IDMI) shot higher, soaring 64% on unusually heavy volume as the firm’s bone cancer treatment received a positive opinion from European medical authorities.
• Chiquita Brands International Inc. (NYSE:CQB) jumped nearly 20% at closing after the bananas distributor was upgraded by analysts, climbing out of 52-week lows set last week.
• K12 Inc. (NYSE:LRN) closed up 16%, paring some of the losses seen . . .

For access to the full article, you must be a registered member - it's FREE.

Already a member? Please log in below