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Small-cap stocks surge 15.5% in April
82% of Russell 2000 stocks show a positive return for the month
May 1, 2009 — The small-cap Russell 2000® Index reflected an increase of 15.5% for the month of April, marking the second-largest monthly gain in 30 years of available data. Only February of 2000 offered a greater return of 16.5%. Even with this recent surge, the index continued to reflect a negative year-to-date return (-1.8%) through April.
The Russell 2000 wasn't the only benchmark to reflect positive news in April as every segment of the U.S. equity market measured by Russell Indexes added value for the month, ranging from 6.8% for the Russell Top 50® Index to 16.7% for the Russell Midcap® Value Index.
"The small cap rally showed some durability in April," said Doug Gordon, investment strategist for Russell Investments. "All nine sectors turned in a positive return for the month with four surging more than 20% each, including a 27.7% gain for consumer discretionary."
Within the small cap segment, value stocks slightly outperformed growth stocks for April, but the year-to-date gap continued to favor the Russell 2000® Growth Index (3.8%) over the Russell 2000® Value Index (-6.9%).
"The fundamentals continue to favor the growth side of the small cap market but, at least for April, value and growth contributed a near equal amount to the strong month for the Russell 2000," said Gordon. "Last month discussion surrounded whether the lows seen in March were a bottom, interesting of course, but perhaps the better question is where to position going forward as now markets seem to demonstrate a less pessimistic future perspective."
Gordon added that the Russell Midcap® Index, which increased 15.4% for April, reflected a positive year-to-date gain at month's end.
"The Russell Midcap increased 5% for the first four months of 2009, inching into positive territory for its 5-year annualized return," Gordon said. "After what we saw in 2008, it's definitely encouraging to see such numbers begin to turn positive, even if it's just 0.01%."
In the large-cap Russell 1000® Index, 829 stocks added value in April as 24 of them gained more than 100% for the month and 112 increased more than 50% each. Eleven of the 20 top-performing large caps are in the consumer discretionary sector, including MGM Mirage (259.7%) and Saks (178.6%). Two stocks in the financial services sector also ranked among the top five: CBL & Associates Properties (236.4%) and Macerich (180%).
In the small-cap Russell 2000, 1,572 stocks added value for the month as 278 of them gained more than 50% and 65 increased more than 100%. The top-performing stock in this segment, Dendreon (404.8%), is in the health care sector. Thirteen of the 20 top-performing small caps are in the consumer discretionary sector, including Borders Group (333.3%) and Pier 1 Imports (233.9%).
| Sector returns for April |
| |
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Russell 1000 |
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Russell 2000 |
| Technology |
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12.4% |
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18.2% |
| Health Care |
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-0.2% |
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4.2% |
| Consumer Discretionary |
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16% |
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27.7% |
| Consumer Staples |
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4% |
|
8.5% |
| Energy |
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6.1% |
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21.9% |
| Materials & Processing |
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16.7% |
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21.7% |
| Producer Durables |
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17.5% |
|
21.2% |
| Financial Services |
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19.6% |
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12.6% |
| Utilities |
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2.5% |
|
2% |
For more returns data and real-time market analysis, visit: www.russell.com/Indexes.
About Russell
Russell Investments provides strategic advice, world-class implementation, state-of-the-art performance benchmarks and a range of institutional-quality investment products. Russell has $136 billion in assets under management as of Dec. 31, 2008, and serves individual, institutional and advisor clients in more than 40 countries. Russell Indexes have $4.3 trillion in assets benchmarked to them as of June 30, 2008. Founded in 1936, Russell is a subsidiary of The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company.
Contacts:
Steve Claiborne, 253-439-1858
Russell Investments, a Washington, USA corporation, operates through subsidiaries worldwide.
Russell Investments 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.
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