NEW YORK, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Retailers led gains in mid- and smallcap stocks on Wednesday, driven by women's apparel as Chico's FAS jumped after it posted results that topped forecasts.
Chico's FAS Inc shares jumped 10 percent to $9.25 after it reported wider profit margins and said it sees growth in sales. For details see.
Chico's news lifted shares of Talbots Inc and AnnTaylor Stores Corp, which cater largely to the same demographic. AnnTaylor gained 6.5 percent to $15.96 and Talbots was up 5.4 percent to $10.28.
'People have been shorting the sector and all of a sudden they saw the market stabilizing so they decided to cover some shorts,' said Edward Hemmelgarn, chief investment officer at Shaker Investments in Cleveland.
He said those investors sometimes use ETFs to short a specific sector, so when they cover their bets it can cause a whole array of related stocks to move up.
The S&P midcap consumer discretionary sector gained 1.4 percent and the correspondent smallcap sector added 1.5 percent.
In comparison, the S&P MidCap 400 index rose 0.3 percent while the S&P SmallCap 600 index advanced 0.4 percent.
The benchmark S&P 500 gained 0.15 percent.
On the downside, Netflix Inc dropped 5.5 percent to $125.70 after Morgan Keegan cut the stock by two notches to 'underperform' and said obtaining more content in the future is going to be challenging for the video subscription company.
(Editing by Leslie Adler) Keywords: MARKETS STOCKS/SMALLMID (rodrigo.campos@thomsonreuters.com; + 1 646-223-6344; Reuters Messaging: rodrigo.campos.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
Chico's FAS Inc shares jumped 10 percent to $9.25 after it reported wider profit margins and said it sees growth in sales. For details see.
Chico's news lifted shares of Talbots Inc and AnnTaylor Stores Corp, which cater largely to the same demographic. AnnTaylor gained 6.5 percent to $15.96 and Talbots was up 5.4 percent to $10.28.
'People have been shorting the sector and all of a sudden they saw the market stabilizing so they decided to cover some shorts,' said Edward Hemmelgarn, chief investment officer at Shaker Investments in Cleveland.
He said those investors sometimes use ETFs to short a specific sector, so when they cover their bets it can cause a whole array of related stocks to move up.
The S&P midcap consumer discretionary sector gained 1.4 percent and the correspondent smallcap sector added 1.5 percent.
In comparison, the S&P MidCap 400 index rose 0.3 percent while the S&P SmallCap 600 index advanced 0.4 percent.
The benchmark S&P 500 gained 0.15 percent.
On the downside, Netflix Inc dropped 5.5 percent to $125.70 after Morgan Keegan cut the stock by two notches to 'underperform' and said obtaining more content in the future is going to be challenging for the video subscription company.
(Editing by Leslie Adler) Keywords: MARKETS STOCKS/SMALLMID (rodrigo.campos@thomsonreuters.com; + 1 646-223-6344; Reuters Messaging: rodrigo.campos.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2010. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.