Small Caps Still Muscle the Market
Through April, small-cap value funds gained a whopping 9.56%, which allowed the asset class to keep its honor as the leading domestic equity fund category. In fact, S&P said, every other domestic equity fund category except for mid-cap value and small-cap blend funds is in negative territory for the year.
According to S&P, the average domestic stock fund is
off 3.88% through April compared to the S&P 500 Index,
which dropped 5.88% during the period.
Worst performers among domestic equity fund categories are
those relying on a growth style.
The large-cap growth, small-cap growth, and mid-cap growth fund styles have respectively returned -8.50%, -5.53%, and -4.87%, through the end of April, S&P reported.
Through April, mid-cap value funds averaged a 3.84% return while mid-cap blend funds turned in an average -1.21% in the same period.
The market can expect that small- and mid-cap value stocks will continue to outperform other sectors in coming months, S&P said, because investors consider many growth issues to be too pricey.