Tag - Plpc

Small-cap stocks turned higher in choppy trade into midday, with pressure from soft energy and financial shares countered by gains in retail and technology stocks. Some of today’s small-cap gainers were Blyth Inc. (NYSE:BTH), Volt Information Science Inc. (NYSE:VOL) and Preformed Line Products Co. (Nasdaq:PLPC).

Other Market Watch highlights today included:

• Energy stocks were among the worst performers so far today, with the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund off 2%.  
• The yield on benchmark 10-year notes, which moves inverse to price, was down 2.6% as demand was solid for credit instruments.  
• Treasury markets continued to rise through mid-session trading, which may have siphoned some money away from equities.   
• Small caps turned higher in choppy trade into midday, with pressure from soft energy and financial shares countered by gains in retail and technology stocks.

Small Cap Gainers:

• Blyth Inc. jumped 29% on unusually heavy volume, recovering nicely from news lows set late last week after the home fragrance and home décor firm announced a reverse stock split. See (NYSE:BTH).  
• Volt Information Science Inc. rose 21% recovering from a wild up and down session Friday in conjunction with earnings news. See (NYSE:VOL). 
• Preformed Line Products Co. was up 18% without any apparent fresh news, as the network line maintenance company mounted a big bounce off move lows forged last week. See (Nasdaq:PLPC).  
• Inter Parfums Inc. was up 7.4% after a rocky few days of trading surrounding earnings results from late January. See (Nasdaq:IPAR). 

Small Cap Losers:

• Las Vegas Sands Corp. tumbles 12% after naming Bradley Stone as president of global operations and construction See (NYSE:LVS).  
• Signet Jewelers Ltd. tumbled 14% as the specialty jewelry retailer fell to new 52-week lows. See (NYSE:SIG). 

Small-cap stocks turned higher in choppy trade into midday, with pressure from soft energy and financial shares countered by gains in retail and technology stocks. At 12:39 p.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was up 2.96, or 0.67%, at 446.48.

Treasury markets continued to rise through mid-session trading, which may have siphoned some money away from equities. The yield on benchmark 10-year notes, which moves inverse to price, was down 2.6% as demand was solid for credit instruments.

Energy stocks were among the worst performers so far today, with the Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund off 2% as crude oil prices edged lower amid concern about demand from not just the United States, but also major energy customers around the world.

Looking at S&P groups so far today, the best performers were health care, food distributors, systems software firms, department stores, Internet retail, Internet software services, semiconductor companies and homebuilders. After a rough go in recent days, the ISE Homebuilder Index was up about 1.4% at midday with small-cap homebuilder Meritage Homes Corp. (NYSE:MTH) up 5.8%.

Small-cap retailers making positive noise today included Inter Parfums Inc. (Nasdaq:IPAR), as the cosmetics firm was up 7.4% after a rocky few days of trading surrounding earnings results from late January.

Some negative sentiment continues to be attached to concerns that progress on the “bad bank” concept appears to have stalled and also by worries that passage of a big stimulus package could take longer than originally expected.

Individual small caps making a move today include Blyth Inc. (NYSE:BTH), which jumped 29% on unusually heavy volume, recovering nicely from news lows set late last week after the home fragrance and home décor firm announced a reverse stock split. Volt Information Science Inc. (NYSE:VOL) rose 21% recovering from a wild up and down session Friday in conjunction with earnings news. Preformed Line Products Co. (Nasdaq:PLPC) was up 18% without any apparent fresh news, as the network line maintenance company mounted a big bounce off move lows forged last . . .

Blyth Inc. (Nasdaq:BTH), Volt Information Sciences Inc. (Nasdaq:VOL) and Preformed Line Products Co. (Nasdaq:PLPC) are among the biggest percentage gainers in Monday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: 3D Systems Corp. (Nasdaq:TDSC), Integrated Electrical Services Inc. (Nasdaq:IESC), Encore Bancshares Inc. (Nasdaq:EBTX), Omega Flex Inc. (Nasdaq:OFLX), First Advantage Corp. (Nasdaq:FADV) and Lincoln Educational Services Corp. (Nasdaq:LINC).

WSFS Financial Corp. (Nasdaq:WSFS), Multi Color Corp. (Nasdaq:LABL) and Capital City Bank Group Inc. (Nasdaq:CCBG) are among the new 52-week lows in Tuesday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $1 billion.

Also included among the results: McMoRan Exploration Co. (Nasdaq:MMR), Sierra Bancorp (Nasdaq:BSRR), Boston Beer Company Inc. (Nasdaq:SAM), Preformed Line Products Co. (Nasdaq:PLPC), First Financial Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq:FFCH) and First M&F Corp. (Nasdaq:FMFC).

Stocks continued their assent midday, as oil slipped, the greenback gained and investors shrugged off lackluster earnings news from bond insurer MBIA.

At 12:49 p.m. ET the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was up 1.34%, or 9.63, to 729.68 while the Dow had gained 0.79%, or 100.79, to 12,846.67.

Oil futures continued to slide midday as investors locked in gains from last week. A crude oil contract for the month of June was off roughly $1.21 midday to $124.75, down from the $126 level breached last week.

As oil futures sold off, the dollar rallied against other major currencies, quelling inflation concerns.

Just this morning Chicago Fed President Charles Evans said that housing was still a drag on the economy, and that growth risks were to the downside, but inflation risk was on the upside. Evans also said that U.S. growth should improve in the second half of the year, but that tight credit markets would crimp near-term GDP.

In corporate news, the financial sector is making headlines today. Investors shrugged off MBIA’s (NYSE:MBI) first-quarter results, as the bond insurer swung to a first-quarter loss on account of $3.58 billion unrealized loss on insured derivatives. Shares rallied.

Small-cap shares opened higher Monday, lifted by advances in overseas equity markets, a firm U.S. dollar and a dip in crude oil prices. At 9:55 a.m. ET, the Russell 2000 (NYSE:IWM) was up 0.86, or 0.12%, at 720.91.

The U.S. dollar was up nearly 1% against the yen into the market open, and pushed about 0.2% higher versus the euro. The firm dollar tone was linked to a $2-per-barrel pullback in crude oil futures, which came off Friday’s record highs amid profit-taking.

Financial shares could find a boost this morning from a jump in the largest European bank HSBC, which climbed about 2% overnight on profit news. Early on this morning, Citigroup (NYSE:C) was up 0.6% and Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) was up about 0.8%. Other large-caps of note included Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT), which was up 1.2% shortly after the opening on optimism ahead of earnings. Research in Motion (Nasdaq:RIMM) jumped 2.4% on news that the company was unveiling a new BlackBerry Bold Smartphone.

A massive earthquake in China overnight caught trader attention, but a lack of details seemed to leave the market without a feeling for whether or not it would have an impact on equities in the United States.

Looking ahead to this week’s action, the economic calendar picks up steam after a relatively tame risk quotient last week. Not only will the market have to navigate through a batch of important data on retail sales, inflation and housing starts, but there is a glut of Federal Reserve speakers on the docket.

Speaking of Fed speakers, Chicago Fed President Charles Evans was the first one up to the plate this morning, saying that housing was still a drag on the economy, and that growth risks were to the downside, but inflation risk was on the upside. He said that U.S. growth should improve in the second half of the year, but . . .

New York & Company, Inc. (NYSE: NWY), Flamel Technologies S.A. (Nasdaq: FLML) and Protherics PLC (Nasdaq: PTIL) are among the biggest percentage losers in Thursday's trading among companies with market capitalizations under $500 million.

Here are today's biggest percentage gainers: