Small caps eye mild opening dip

Small-caps stocks were expected to open slightly lower in line with a mild overnight dip in most stock index products. The Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was off about 0.1% in after-hours trading, which would translate to a cash opening near 729.

The productivity report, which came out at 8:30 a.m. ET, was better than forecast, with the headline number up 2.2%, compared with the median prediction for a gain of 1.6%.

The U.S. dollar was on a roll this morning, up 0.6%, or nearly 100 bps versus the euro, and up 0.4% against the yen, which should provide some support to the market if the dollar can hold those gains during the U.S. trading session.

In overseas trading, European shares had a nice recovery move, climbing from a loss of 0.8% to a gain of 0.3%. Equities in Asia were mixed, but tilted to the negative side, with Japan’s Nikkei up 0.38%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng down 2.48% . . .

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