Small caps attract money even as large caps waffle

Small-cap stocks pushed higher Wednesday, finding comfort in soft energy and firm dollar trends, even as large-cap stocks fretted about global growth worries and a mixed picture on the economic front. The Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) closed up 3.40, or 0.46%, at 741.91.

Small caps outperformed large-cap index products and the straight dollar spread of the S&P 500 against the Russell 2000 tumbled to fresh move lows and is at the lowest point in well more than a year. For the day, the S&P 500 was down 0.20% and is now down 13.1% on the year. Meanwhile, the Dow was up 0.14% today and is off 13% for the year. The biggest losses today were suffered in the technology arena, with the tech-laden Nasdaq 100 sinking 0.9%.

The terrain right now seems particularly difficult for investors to navigate. Just because crude oil prices sink, it doesn’t necessarily mean the overall stock market will rally. And just because the dollar is strong, it doesn’t necessarily mean money is shifting into U.S. assets. There are growing concerns that the slide in energy prices is more a reflection of a slowing global economic environment, which could pinch overseas demand for U.S. goods — and U.S. exports were about the only bright spot in the recent economic slowdown. Along those same lines, American technology companies are cautioning that global customers may cut back on spending, which has been a chilly issue tech stocks.

In today’s action, Intel Corp. (Nasdaq:INTC) was the poster child for the tech spending worries, with INTC stock sinking 4.5%. Research in Motion Ltd. (Nasdaq:RIMM), also posted declines greater than 3% and Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) slumped to fresh move lows and are at the lowest point in more than a year amid talk that worldwide cell phone users just aren’t that eager to pay up for the latest and greatest technology gizmos.

The sloppy price action in large caps today also provided some confirmation that Tuesday’s decline in stocks amid a collapse in crude oil prices was not a fluke. Crude oil prices remained on the defensive today, slipping $0.36 a barrel to $109.35, but did manage to bounce about $2 dollars off the intraday low. Outside . . .

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