Tag - MEJ

The major U.S. indices are mixed early this morning following news that U.S. existing home sales fell slightly in May.

At 10:24 a.m. ET the Russell 2000 was down 0.10 points, or 0.01 percent, to 834.65. Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 71.53 points, or 0.54 percent, to 13,431.79.

Purchases of existing home sales declined 0.3% in May to an annual rate of 5.99 million, the National Association of Realtors reported at 10 a.m. ET. That’s the lowest level since June 2003. April sales were 6.01 million at an annualized rate.

Not surprisingly, the number of homes waiting to be sold increased 5% to 4.43 million. The median asking price of an existing home fell 2.1% to $223,700.

The data suggest that the housing sector is continuing to sag.

The following were the most actively traded companies in Monday's trading among those with market capitalizations under $500 million.