110 / 772
12
U.S. stocks rallied by more than
5%
in February amid
favorable macroeconomic news, including strong
U.S. job growth in January, higher-than-expected
auto sales, and a positive retail sales report.
Other drivers included an agreement between the
eurogroup and Greece to extend Greece’s aid
program and a tentative agreement in Ukraine.
The materials sector returned close to
8%
and was
the top-performing U.S. equity sector, followed
closely by consumer discretionary and information
technology. The energy sector returned close
to
5%
as oil prices were up for much of the month
before turning downward at month’s end. Mean-
while, the bondlike utilities sector, which is sensitive
to interest rates, slid by close to
6%
.
The
MSCI
EAFE
Index gained
6%
for the month, with
stocks from Australia, Portugal, Ireland, Spain,
Denmark, and the United Kingdom shining.
Invesco
European Growth
AEDAX
, which has a Morningstar
Analyst Rating of Silver, returned more than
6%
.
Emerging markets also had a strong month, with
the
MSCI
Emerging Markets Index gaining
3
.
1%
in the
month. Greek stocks surged, and Russian equities
enjoyed a blowout month as well. Meanwhile, Chinese
and Brazilian stocks slightly lagged the benchmark.
Silver-rated
Matthews China
MCHFX
gained
1%
.
The U.S. bond market fell in February, as the yield on
the benchmark
10
-year Treasury note rose during
the month to
2
.
0%
. Investors took comfort in end-of-
the-month comments from U.S. Federal Reserve
chair Janet Yellen that the Fed likely will not boost
interest rates for several months. The inter-
mediate-term bond and intermediate muni bond
categories were flat during the month, while
the long government category was down sharply.
œ�
Contact Robert Goldsborough at:
robert.goldsborough
@
morningstar.com
Total Return
%
Through
A N N U A L I Z E D
02-28-15
1Mo YTD 3Yr
5Yr
10Yr
Benchmark Performance
Markets Bounce Back
Market Overview
|
Robert Goldsborough
Large Growth
6.4 4.5 16.7 15.4 8.4
Large Blend
5.7 2.5 16.4 14.6 7.3
Large Value
5.4 1.6 15.9 13.8 6.7
Mid-Cap Growth
6.8 4.6 15.5 15.8 8.9
Mid-Cap Blend
5.9 3.2 16.2 15.1 8.2
Mid-Cap Value
5.5 2.6 17.0 15.2 8.3
Small Growth
7.2 4.1 15.5 16.5 8.7
Small Blend
5.9 2.1 15.0 14.9 7.8
Small Value
5.6 1.1 14.6 13.9 7.6
Aggressive Allocation
4.5 3.1 11.5 11.0 6.1
Conservative Allocation
1.7 1.9 6.2 7.2 5.1
Moderate Allocation
3.4 2.5 10.1 10.0 6.2
Communications
6.6 5.7 13.3 12.8 5.7
Financial
6.3 -0.2 15.3 10.1 2.7
Global Real Estate
0.9 4.6 11.7 11.6 5.8
Health
5.1 8.3 31.1 23.0 13.8
Natural Resources
6.0 2.5 -2.9 2.6 5.0
Equity Precious Metals
-3.4 9.9 -25.2 -11.6 1.6
Real Estate
-2.6 2.9 14.3 16.9 8.4
Technology
7.6 4.7 16.0 15.5 9.7
Utilities
-1.6 -1.4 13.2 12.9 8.6
S&P 500
5.6 2.6 17.9 16.1 7.9
S&P MidCap 400
5.1 3.9 17.2 17.0 10.1
Russell 2000
5.9 2.5 16.6 16.0 8.3
Diversified Pacific/Asia
4.2 6.1 8.7 7.5 6.1
Diversified Emerging Mkts
2.5 2.9 0.5 3.4 7.1
Europe Stock
6.0 6.7 10.6 9.2 5.9
Foreign Large Blend
5.5 6.0 8.3 7.3 4.8
Foreign Large Growth
5.2 6.0 8.8 8.3 5.5
Foreign Large Value
5.7 5.9 7.8 6.6 3.9
Foreign Small/Mid Growth
5.4 5.7 10.9 11.5 7.6
Foreign Small/Mid Value
6.3 5.6 9.5 8.5 5.4
World Stock
5.0 3.9 11.8 11.0 6.6
MSCI EAFE
6.3 7.0 9.5 7.6 4.7
MSCI World
5.9 3.9 13.3 11.7 6.3
MSCI Emerging Markets
4.4 3.7 -0.7 2.9 7.1
MSCI Europe
6.3 6.3 10.1 8.3 4.9
MSCI Latin America
3.9 -2.7 -14.6 -7.4 4.9
MSCI Pacific
5.5 7.1 8.1 7.0 4.8
High Yield Bond
2.3 2.6 6.5 8.2 6.5
Inflation-Protected Bond
-0.9 1.7 -0.3 3.4 3.7
Intermediate-Term Bond
-0.5 1.2 3.2 4.6 4.5
Muni National Long
-1.1 0.7 4.0 5.2 4.2
World Bond
-0.1 0.2 1.7 3.5 4.1
BarCap US Agg Bond TR USD -0.9 1.1 2.7 4.2 4.6
BofAML US HY Master II TR 2.4 3.1 7.6 9.2 7.8
BarCap Municipal TR USD -1.0 0.7 3.7 5.0 4.7