Small-Stock Focus: Tech Rally Sends Small Caps and Nasdaq Higher; Lam and Antec Rise as Miller Exploration Slides
NEW YORK -- Small-capitalization issues rose, erasing intraday declines on a late-day wave of buying centered on the technology sector.</br></br>The overall Nasdaq Stock Market also benefited from the late tech-sector rally, and the Nasdaq Composite Index posted the sharpest gain of the major stock-market indexes.</br></br>The Russell 2000 index of small-cap stocks advanced 1.11 points, or 0.28%, to 398.74, and the Nasdaq composite gained 31.97 points, or 1.3%, to 2493.37.</br></br>Small-cap and Nasdaq stocks were confined to relatively narrow trading ranges throughout much of the thinly traded preholiday session, before jumping higher late in the day. The stock market is closed today in observance of Good Friday.</br></br>For the holiday-shortened week, the Russell 2000 rose 4.82 points, or 1.2%, and the Nasdaq composite was up 74.2 points, or 3.1%.