Headwaters Sinks 5.9%; Bidding War Boosts 3PAR
NEW YORK -- Deal activity represented a glimmer of hope for a market struggling to show conviction during these low volume, summer trading days. But it wasn't enough to lift small-caps, which extended their losing streak to three consecutive sessions amid one of the lowest volume days of the year.</br></br>"Traders must be at the Hamptons or something," said Brett Hawkins, portfolio manager at Thompson, Siegel & Walmsley. "On really low volume days like this, it's tough to glean a lot about what's going on in the market."</br></br>Investors on Monday continued to focus on the economic recovery as tepid job growth, a fragile housing market and weak consumer spending overshadowed more acquisition offers.</br></br>The Russell 2000 index of small-capitalization stocks fell 8.11 points, or 1.3%, to 602.67. The measure has dropped 4% throughout its three-day losing skid. For the month, the index is down 7.4%. The Standard & Poor's SmallCap 600 fell 4.08 points, or 1.3%, to 322.89.</br></br>Materials were small-caps' biggest decliners, losing 1.9% on the S&P 600. Building-products firm Headwaters fell 19 cents, or 5.9%, to $3.06, and paper-products maker Neenah Paper fell 97 cents, or 6.3%, to $14.52.