Small caps close in the green; DFT, BWLD and PFCB

SCI Microbloggers | Feb 12, 2009 4:48pm EST | Comment

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The Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) closed up 2.47, or 0.55%, at 450.42. Small caps are now down 9.8% for the year, while the Dow is off 9.6% and the S&P 500 is down 7.5%. Some of today’s small-cap gainers were DuPont Fabros (NYSE:DFT), Buffalo Wild Wings (Nasdaq:BWLD) and P.F. Chang’s China Bistro (Nasdaq:PFCB).

Other Market Watch highlights today included:

• Equity markets in Europe and Asia were lower overnight, with financial and consumer product stocks on the slide, which plays into the soft initial tone.
• The retail sales report headline figure came in at plus 1%, which was well ahead of the projection for a slide of 0.7%.
• The weekly unemployment claims report showed that 623,000 workers filed for benefits last week, which was above the projection of 610,000.
• The number of people forced to file for continuing claims marked a record high; the 4-week moving average for claims was at a 26-year peak.
• Retail shares also were struggling today, despite the bullish print on headline monthly retail sales data. The S&P Retail Index was down 1.8%.
• Small-cap stocks edged higher Thursday, a nice reversal from this morning when the market appeared to be in freefall mode.
• Energy markets had a little bit of a divergence today between equities and cash, with crude oil prices closing down 5.4%, losing $1.96 a barrel to $33.98.
• Copper prices tanked in the morning, but also found some buying interest as the stock market righted the ship.

Small Cap Gainers:

• DuPont Fabros popped 37% after reporting Q4 and full-year 2008 results, and enteting into a loan agreement. See (NYSE:DFT).
• Buffalo Wild Wings Inc. gapped higher and shot up some 34% as the restaurant chain topped the forecast. See (Nasdaq:BWLD).
• P.F. Chang’s China Bistro Inc. reports Q4 earnings, tops estimates. Shares closed up 8.2%%. See (Nasdaq:PFCB).

Small Cap Losers:

• Pacer International Inc. tumbled 40% as the freight transport firm took a beating after releasing earnings. See (Nasdaq:PACR).
• comScore Inc. fell 30% as the video researcher was another victim of sloppy quarterly results. See (Nasdaq:SCOR).
• Terex Corp. fell 31% as the construction equipment manufacturer warned that it might violate a credit covenant by quarter’s end. See (NYSE:TEX).