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Wall Street felt the earth literally move on Tuesday, and small-cap stock investors were leading the way amid rumblings that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke will create a possible financial earthquake later this week.
The Russell 2000 Index rose 4.87 percent and the Standard & Poor’s Small Cap 600 Index closed an even stronger 4.94 percent higher, as traders began bidding up stocks on the hopes that Bernanke will announce steps to further stimulate the economy. The Fed chairman is to speak Friday in Jackson Hole, Wyo., at a conference on the "prospects for the U.S. economy."
Trading was only slightly sidetracked by the 5.8-magnitude earthquake centered in Virginia that was felt in 22 states.
Other market indicators also cruised higher on Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 2.97 percent, the Nasdaq Stock Market gained 4.29 percent, and the Standard & Poor’s 500 added 3.43 percent.
Tuesday’s Top Performing Small Cap Stocks (Data provided by Google Finance)
Ampio Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: AMPE): The biotech, which finds new uses for already approved drugs, bolstered its management by hiring Deborah Knobelman away from Pfizer as its chief business officer.
PharMerica (NYSE: PMC): Shares of the institutional pharmacy services company shot up after it received a $456 million takeover offer from sector-leading Omnicare, a bid that was rejected.
Rentrak (Nasdaq: RENT): Shares for this content measurement provider rose along with many others, but remain down 52 percent this year.
Anthera Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ANTH): The stock of the development-stage biotech that focuses on drugs to treat inflammation and autoimmune diseases is up 55 percent over the past 12 months.
Deltek (Nasdaq: PROJ): The provider of enterprise software has been on the rebound since announcing a $30 million stock repurchase on Aug. 18, and now the stock is virtually unchanged for the year.