Small-cap shares pushed higher, lifted by a sudden reversal in crude oil prices, which took the market back down below $130 dollars a barrel after reaching $133 overnight. The stock market navigated through consumer confidence and new home sales data this morning without too much damage, even though neither report was particularly rosy. At 10:08 a.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was up 9.51, or 1.31% at 733.61.

The consumer confidence headline figure came in at 57.2, which was below the forecast of 60.0 and tumbled to a 16-year low. New home sales came in at an annualized rate of 526,000 units, which was slightly above the projection for 520,000. Although new home sales were up 3.3% in April, they were still down 42% from last year, which marked the largest year-over-year decline in about 27 years, according to the Commerce Department.

Before the new home sales figures came out, the Case-Shiller U.S. home price index reported a dive in first quarter home sale prices, which tumbled 14.1% from the same period last year. The figures were in line with analyst expectations.

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