Stock Market Update

[BRIEFING.COM] There is a nice bid in today's market that continues to favor areas of the market that underperformed last year. For instance, small-cap stocks are shining today and so are value stocks (as a whole).

The Russell 2000 is up 1.5% today and up 3.5% for the year versus the market cap-weighted S&P 500 which is up 0.5% today and 2.5% for the year.

The Russell 3000 Value Index is up 1.1% today and 4.4% for the year versus the Russell 3000 Growth Index which is up 0.3% today and up 1.6% for the year.

These moves fit hand-in-hand with some excitement about U.S. growth prospects, which have been bolstered by the arrival of a new administration pushing deregulation and lower tax rates.