Commodities pace light volume post-holiday rise

Small-cap stocks pushed higher Friday, lifted by a rise in commodity markets, which in turn provided a lift to commodity-themed stocks. Energy markets were a key component on the commodity rise, with crude oil prices up 6.6%, helping offset weakness in financial shares. Volume was extremely light Friday as many market participants took advantage of Thursday’s Christmas holiday to carve out a four-day weekend. The Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) closed up 6.28, or 1.34%, at 476.77, and is now down 38% for 2008. The Dow is off 36% for the year, while the S&P 500 is down 41%.

Today’s light volume, limited range affair was remarkably similar to Wednesday’s session, which saw the thinnest one-day range since the whole stock market collapse kicked into gear back in mid-September. On a weekly basis, this was also the tightest range seen in several months.

When looking at sector activity today, commodities were a recurring upside theme, with metals and mining firms, gold stocks, aluminum, oil and gas drillers ranking among the best performing sectors. The U.S. dollar was down modestly against the euro, but this appeared to be more a push for commodity markets than simply a value play based on foreign exchange movement. The Commodity Research Bureau Index was up about 1.3% on the day, with energy, grains and metals leading the way. Gold prices were up 2.7% to a weekly high, and grain markets took flight amid concerns about . . .

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