Mega-cap Growth Stocks Shine in August
 September 1, 2006 — Mega-cap growth stocks outperformed all other segments of the U.S. equity market in August as the Russell Top 200® Growth Index gained 3.5% for the month to lead Russell's family of U.S. indexes. Even so, the index remains in the cellar for 2006 with a year-to-date performance of 0%.
By contrast, the Russell Top 200® Value Index (1.3%) reflected the worst performance for the month, but it maintains a solid 11.6% year-to-date gain for 2006.
"Large-cap, growth stocks regained some of their footing in August," said Dennis Jensen, senior manager research. "But this shift was driven by sector performance, particularly for technology stocks, not necessarily a preference for growth stocks."
He added that this slight style shift in August nudged the Russell 3000® Growth Index ahead of the Russell 3000® Value Index in terms of monthly performance for the first time since March.
"General weakness in energy-related stocks and uninspiring performance from financial services stocks proved to be a drag on the value indexes," Jensen said.
Overall, the broad-market Russell 3000® Index reflected a 2.45% gain for August as every market segment measured by Russell indexes turned in a positive performance.
"After a slow July and early August, the equity markets strengthened mid-month," Jensen said.
Performance numbers for August show relatively even performance among the capitalization tiers. The small-cap Russell 2000® Index (2.96%) barely outperformed the Russell Top 50™ Index (2.84%) to lead Russell's core indexes.
Among the 12 sectors in Russell indexes, the relatively good performance of technology stocks sparked positive returns at every market capitalization tier. In the Russell Top 200, for example, technology led all other sectors with a 9.2% gain. By contrast, three sectors—autos and transportation (-2.3%), other energy (-7.2%) and integrated oils (-1.9%)—reflected a negative return for the month.
The top-performing stock for August in the large-cap Russell 1000® Index was Coldwater Creek (37.8%) in the consumer discretionary sector, but nine of the top 20 performing large-cap stocks for the month are in the technology sector. Seventy-six of the 100 technology stocks in the Russell 1000 gained ground in August.
In the Russell 3000, about 65% of the members gained value in August.
In the Russell 2000, some health care stocks showed the most signs of life as POZEN (64.4%) and ViroPharma (60.8%) led all other stocks in the index, and six of the top 10 performers in the index are in the health care sector. Overall, 135 small-cap stocks gained more than 20% for the month, while only 41 stocks in the index declined more than 20% in August.
| RUSSELL INDEXES TOTAL RETURNS (%) |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
August |
|
YTD |
| Russell 3000® Index |
|
2.45% |
|
5.66% |
| Russell 1000® Index |
|
2.40% |
|
5.45% |
| Russell 2000® Index |
|
2.96% |
|
7.79% |
| Russell 2500™ Index |
|
2.53% |
|
5.58% |
| Russell Midcap® Index |
|
2.54% |
|
5.15% |
| Russell Top 200® Index |
|
2.34% |
|
5.57% |
| Russell Top 50® Index |
|
2.84% |
|
6.93% |
| Russell Microcap™ Index |
|
2.68% |
|
5.28% |
| Russell 3000® Value Index |
|
1.79% |
|
11.07% |
| Russell 3000® Growth Index |
|
3.10% |
|
0.52% |
| Russell 1000® Value Index |
|
1.67% |
|
10.98% |
| Russell 1000® Growth Index |
|
3.12% |
|
0.22% |
| Russell 2000® Value Index |
|
2.99% |
|
12.16% |
| Russell 2000® Growth Index |
|
2.93% |
|
3.51% |
| Russell 2500™ Value Index |
|
2.66% |
|
9.00% |
| Russell 2500™ Growth Index |
|
2.40% |
|
2.26% |
| Russell Midcap® Value Index |
|
2.80% |
|
9.40% |
| Russell Midcap® Growth Index |
|
2.30% |
|
1.16% |
| Russell Top 200® Value Index |
|
1.26% |
|
11.56% |
| Russell Top 200® Growth Index |
|
3.48% |
|
-0.03% |
August 2006
SECTOR PERFORMANCE |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
Russell 1000 Growth |
|
Russell 1000 Value |
| Technology |
|
8.65% |
|
6.63% |
| Health Care |
|
2.01% |
|
4.21% |
| Consumer Discretionary & Services |
|
2.21% |
|
2.75% |
| Consumer Staples |
|
3.51% |
|
5.98% |
| Integrated Oils |
|
0.36% |
|
-2.18% |
| Other Energy |
|
-5.51% |
|
-5.60% |
| Materials & Processing |
|
3.43% |
|
1.47% |
| Producer Durables |
|
1.37% |
|
3.65% |
| Autos & Transportation |
|
-1.03% |
|
0.65% |
| Financial Services |
|
2.02% |
|
1.22% |
| Utilities |
|
2.24% |
|
2.01% |
About Russell: Russell Investment Group, a global leader in multi-manager investing, provides investment products and services in 44 countries. Russell manages more than $171 billion in assets and advises clients worldwide representing more than $2.4 trillion. Founded in 1936, Russell is a subsidiary of Northwestern Mutual and is headquartered in Tacoma, Wash., with additional offices in New York, Toronto, London, Paris, Sydney, Singapore, Auckland and Tokyo.
Russell employs its indexes to objectively evaluate investment managers for multi-manager funds and other investment services. More than $3.8 trillion in assets are benchmarked to the industry-leading Russell indexes.
Russell Investment Group, a Washington, USA corporation, operates through subsidiaries worldwide. Russell Investment Group is a subsidiary of The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company.
Russell Investment Group is the owner of the trademarks, service marks and copyrights related to its indexes.
Russell's indexes are unmanaged and cannot be invested in directly.
RC# 4476
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