NEW YORK, Dec 23 - Mid-cap and small-cap stocks rose on Tuesday as stronger sales from Finish Line Inc (FINL.O) pushed consumer stocks higher and a drop in the U.S. dollar boosted energy and materials stocks.
Smallcap Finish Line jumped 10 percent to $11 after the retailer reported better-than-expected third-quarter earnings and said same-store sales in the three weeks to Dec. 20 climbed 4.9 percent. For details, see [ID:nN22230825]
Finish Line and larger rival Foot Locker Inc (FL.N) had seen sales drop in the economic downturn as consumers refrained from discretionary purchases.
"On a relative basis, for those people that are walking in the store, (Finish Line) had what they wanted," said Sam Poser, Senior Analyst at Sterne Agee in New York.
"If traffic ever picks up in the mall and they keep executing like this, there is a huge upside here."
Energy and materials stocks moved higher, aided by a more than 2 percent climb in oil prices CLc1 following key inventory data that showed a drop in inventories. Also helping was a 0.4 percent decline in the dollar .DXY against a basket of major currencies. [ID:nN23150277]
A weaker greenback boosts investor demand for dollar-denominated commodities.
The S&P MidCap Energy index .4GSPE climbed 2.2 percent and the S&P MidCap Materials .4GSPM index added 0.5 percent.
Coal stocks were the top boost to the S&P MidCap Energy index, led by Patriot Coal (PCX.N), which jumped 10.3 percent to $16.21 on bullish options activity.
The S&P MidCap 400 index .MID rose 0.7 percent while the S&P SmallCap 600 index .SML advanced 1.1 percent. In comparison, the benchmark S&P 500 .SPX added 0.2 percent.
Smallcap Finish Line jumped 10 percent to $11 after the retailer reported better-than-expected third-quarter earnings and said same-store sales in the three weeks to Dec. 20 climbed 4.9 percent. For details, see [ID:nN22230825]
Finish Line and larger rival Foot Locker Inc (FL.N) had seen sales drop in the economic downturn as consumers refrained from discretionary purchases.
"On a relative basis, for those people that are walking in the store, (Finish Line) had what they wanted," said Sam Poser, Senior Analyst at Sterne Agee in New York.
"If traffic ever picks up in the mall and they keep executing like this, there is a huge upside here."
Energy and materials stocks moved higher, aided by a more than 2 percent climb in oil prices CLc1 following key inventory data that showed a drop in inventories. Also helping was a 0.4 percent decline in the dollar .DXY against a basket of major currencies. [ID:nN23150277]
A weaker greenback boosts investor demand for dollar-denominated commodities.
The S&P MidCap Energy index .4GSPE climbed 2.2 percent and the S&P MidCap Materials .4GSPM index added 0.5 percent.
Coal stocks were the top boost to the S&P MidCap Energy index, led by Patriot Coal (PCX.N), which jumped 10.3 percent to $16.21 on bullish options activity.
The S&P MidCap 400 index .MID rose 0.7 percent while the S&P SmallCap 600 index .SML advanced 1.1 percent. In comparison, the benchmark S&P 500 .SPX added 0.2 percent.
