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The Russell 2000 (NYSE: IWM) is gaining despite news of weak retail sales in January.

At 10:18 a.m. ET, the small-cap index had added 8.09 points, or 1.17%, to 700.58. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU) was up 48.77 points, or 0.40%, to 12,248.87.

Retail sales in January largely missed already low expectations, indicating that consumers have pulled back and the economy is either headed for a recession or already in one.

Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT), the world’s largest retailer, announced that its January same-store sales increased just 0.5%, below the forecasted 2%. Worse, the Bentonville, Ark.-based giant said that consumers are using their gift card redemptions more for food and consumables than for discretionary items.

In other economic news, the U.S. Labor Department reported before the start of trading that initial jobless claims for the week ended Feb. 2 fell 22,000 to 356,000 from the previous week’s upwardly revised figure of 378,000.

The numbers disappointed economists, who were expecting a bigger decline.

RAM Holdings Ltd. (Nasdaq: RAMR), Moldflow Corp. (Nasdaq: MFLO) and Standard Motor Products, Inc. (NYSE: SMP) are the biggest percentage losers in Monday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $500 million.

Here are today's biggest percentage losers: