The Wall Street Journal-20080202-La-Z-Boy and Beazer Rise- CSK Soars 51-
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La-Z-Boy and Beazer Rise; CSK Soars 51%
Full Text (264 words)Small-capitalization stocks shot upward across the board Friday, opening February on a much better note than much of the recent economic data would suggest.
"It looked like we were due for a snap back after a selling climax," said Katie Townshend, chief market technician for MKM Partners.
The Russell 2000 index of small-capitalization stocks gained 17.20 points, or 2.41%, on the day to 730.50, ending the week up 6%. However, for the year, the index has fallen 4.6%.
The Standard & Poor's 600 rose 9.13, or 2.43%, to 384.64 on Friday.
Among the leaders Friday were two of the more downtrodden areas, retailers and financial stocks.
La-Z-Boy climbed $1.16, or 15%, to $8.73, on the New York Stock Exchange, and Children's Place firmed up $1.24, or 7%, to $19.78. The uptick for banks was led by Sterling Financial, of Spokane, Wash., which climbed 1.62, or 9%, to 19.41, and Glacier Bancorp, which rose 1.79, or 10%, to 20.40, after posting a 6.6% increase in fourth- quarter earnings.
Large-cap O'Reilly Automotive offered to buy CSK Auto for $355 million, pushing up shares of the Phoenix auto-parts retailer 3.03, or 51%, to 8.98, on the New York Stock Exchange.
Bucking the trend for homebuilders, Beazer Homes (NYSE) rose 60 cents, or 7%, to 9.31. The Atlanta home builder said it is getting out of the mortgage-origination business and signed a marketing-services agreement with Countrywide Financial.
Stillwater Mining, a platinum- and palladium-mining company, climbed 2.32, or 22%, to 12.77, on the NYSE, after two rivals halted operations in South Africa, sending platinum and palladium prices to records.
