Still in the black

Small-cap stocks pushed higher into mid-session, lifted by gains in technology stocks, retailers, homebuilders and insurers, which more than countered weakness in commodity names. At 12:40 p.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was up 7.19, or 1.54% at 473.35.

The market was able to weather another batch of troubling data on the economy, with home prices generating the largest decline on record and consumer confidence sinking to a record low. A better-than-expected showing on Midwest manufacturing kept all the fresh economic news from being awful, and even that number was still historically low.

The big news event overnight was that the Treasury Department decided to take a $5-billion stake in the financing arm of General Motors Corp. (NYSE:GM), which seemed to gain favor with stock market traders around the world as a show of confidence in a major U.S. corporation. In addition to the $5 billion for GMAC, the government also plowed another $1 billion into GM, adding to the $13.4 billion granted back in mid-December. GM shares were up 5.3% at midday, while Ford Motor Co. (NYSE:F) was up 2.2%.

Looking at sector activity so far today, the best performers included commercial printers, auto parts suppliers, chemical companies, office electronics firms, wireless telecoms, motorcycle manufacturers, life health insurers and tire companies.

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