Small-Cap Russell 2000 Leads Another Up-Day in the Market

Thursday, July 10, 2025Markets kept moving higher this Thursday, with the small-cap Russell 2000 leading the major indexes for the 4th session in the last 5. The Dow also performed fairly well today: +192 points, +0.43%, while the S&P 500 was up +17 points or +0.27% and the Nasdaq +19 points, +0.09%. The Russell gained +10 points for the session +0.48%.The Russell 2000 has been playing catch-up of late, as large-cap AI/tech stocks listed on the Nasdaq and S&P 500 have led the market for nearly all of this year so far. But in the past month, the Russell is +5%, while the other major indexes hover around +4%. It’s still off all-time highs reached 3 1/3 years ago, but the small-caps have outgained the field of the past month or so.Without much reining in animal spirits in the market these days, we continually see higher and higher markets. This is even with a trade deadline having come and gone and precious few trade deals with any U.S. trading partners helping light the way forward. We seem to be both having our cake and eating it too these days.Levi Strauss Beats in Q2Iconic American apparel company Levi Strauss & Co. LEVI reported earnings for its fiscal Q2 after today’s close, and were ahead of the Zacks consensus estimates: earnings of 22 cents per share outshone the 14 cents estimated by analysts, while $1.4 billion in revenues surpassed the $1.37 billion we had been projecting. (You can see the full Zacks Earnings Calendar here.)Gross margins for LEVI hit a record +62.6% for the quarter, with comps for the Americas up +5%, net revenues in Europe +14%, and Asia flat. Direct-to-Consumer was +11% in the quarter. All in all, a good quarter — one that justifies its current jump +7% in late trading on the news. The stock is up an additional +14% year to date.What to Expect from the Stock Market TomorrowThere will be no economic reports Friday, and no earnings reports worth writing home about tomorrow either. We look ahead to next Tuesday, when not only Consumer Price Index (CPI) data will be out, but also Q2 earnings reports from some of the biggest Wall Street banks such as JPMorgan JPM, Citigroup C and Wells Fargo WFC.The banks are expected to perform well, as assets under management are at record highs, while investment banking has performed well across the board with markets at or near all-time highs. The three major banks reporting Tuesday all are currently at Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Meanwhile, the CPI Inflation Rate from last month’s report was at a 12-month low +2.3%, +2.8% on core. These are about as close to what we’ve seen to the Fed’s optimal inflation target of +2.0%.Questions or comments about this article and/or author? Click here>>Higher. Faster. Sooner. Buy These Stocks NowA small number of stocks are primed for a breakout, and you have a chance to get in before they take off.At any given time, there are only 220 Zacks Rank #1 Strong Buys. On average, this list more than doubles the S&P 500. We’ve combed through the latest Strong Buys and selected 7 compelling companies likely to jump sooner and climb higher than any other stock you could buy this month.You'll learn everything you need to know about these exciting trades in our brand-new Special Report, 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days.Download the report free now >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Wells Fargo & Company (WFC): Free Stock Analysis Report JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM): Free Stock Analysis Report Citigroup Inc. (C): Free Stock Analysis Report Levi Strauss & Co. (LEVI): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks