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Stocks spring back in April
Russell Global Index reflects a 5.4% gain for the month
May 1, 2008 — The Russell 3000® Index reflected a 5% gain for the month of April, ending a string of five negative months for the U.S. broad-market benchmark. While the index remained in the red year-to-date through April, the month provided investors with positive news from 10 of the 12 sectors, including a 5.9% increase for financial services. In addition, nearly 60% of the stocks in the index added value for the month.
"After some steep loses in the first quarter, the equity market warmed up in April," said Christian Anderson, associate portfolio manager at Russell. "The financial services sector rebounded from a weak first quarter to outperform the broad market in April while other energy, a sector that held up relatively well during the first quarter's market decline, continued its strong performance in the month of April."
Among Russell's family of U.S. indexes, the Russell Midcap® Growth Index led all others, reflecting a 7.3% gain for the month.
In the small-capitalization tier, the Russell 2000® Growth Index reflected an increase of 5.1% for the month due in large part to a 6.4% jolt from the technology sector. Even so, the index still showed a year-to-date decline of 8.4% as the technology sector, which comprises 17% of the weighting, lost 14.7% year-to-date even with the April rally.
"Small-cap growth stocks outperformed small-cap value stocks by a notable margin in 2007," said Anderson. "So far in 2008, though, smaller capitalization stocks with the highest growth rates have faced a more challenging market environment."
Half of the 10 top-performing stocks for April in the Russell 2000 are in the health care sector, including Hythiam (124%), Progenics Pharmaceuticals (106.3%) and Sirtris Pharmaceuticals (72.1%).
In the large-cap Russell 1000® Index, about 80% of the financial services stocks increased in value during April, including Safeco (53.5%) and Capital Source (45.3%). In addition, three of the five top-performing stocks for the month are in the consumer discretionary sector: Warner Music Group (74.5%), ITT Educational Services (66.9%) and Career Education (58.4%).
Looking globally, the Russell Emerging Markets Index reflected a gain of 7.6% for the month, outperforming the Russell Developed Index (5.1%), while the Russell BRIC Index surged 11.7%. At the end of April the Russell BRIC reflected a one-year return of 38.1%.
Contrary to the U.S. market, where the Russell 3000 Growth Index (5.2%) slightly outperformed the Russell 3000 Value Index (4.7%), the Russell Global ex-U.S. Growth Index (5.5%) slightly underperformed the Russell Global ex-U.S. Growth Index (5.8%).
| Sector returns for the month of April |
| |
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Russell 1000 |
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Russell 2000 |
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Russell 3000 |
| Technology |
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6.0% |
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5.8% |
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6.0% |
| Health Care |
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1.3% |
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2.5% |
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1.4% |
| Consumer Discretionary & Services |
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6.0% |
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3.1% |
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5.6% |
| Consumer Staples |
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-2.0% |
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-0.1% |
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-1.9% |
| Integrated Oils |
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11.2% |
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11.0% |
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11.2% |
| Other Energy |
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11.3% |
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11.0% |
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11.3% |
| Materials & Processing |
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6.4% |
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6.2% |
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6.4% |
| Producer Durables |
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6.1% |
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5.7% |
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6.1% |
| Autos & Transportation |
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8.9% |
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3.4% |
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8.3% |
| Financial Services |
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6.3% |
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1.7% |
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5.9% |
| Utilities |
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5.6% |
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6.2% |
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5.6% |
For additional performance figures on Russell's indexes and the user-friendly Russell index returns calculator, please 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 more than $213 billion in assets under management as of March 31, 2007, and serves individual, institutional and advisor clients in more than 40 countries. Russell's industry-leading indexes have $4.4 trillion in assets benchmarked to them as of Dec. 31, 2007. Founded in 1936, Russell is a subsidiary of The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company.
Contacts:
Steve Claiborne, 253-439-1858
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.
CORP-5440
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Russell Investment Group is a Washington, USA corporation, which operates through subsidiaries worldwide, including Russell Investments, and is a subsidiary of The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company.
Indexes are unmanaged and cannot by invested in directly. Returns represent past performance, are not a guarantee of future performance, and are not indicative of any specific investment.
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