110 / 708
12
U.S. stocks finished February about where they started.
The S&P 500 and the Russell 2000 Index were flat
in February. Economic data was mixed as a rally in oil
prices helped but was offset by concerns about
banks and the threat of a recession.
Overseas markets fared worse in February. European
stocks in particular were dragged down by concerns
over the United Kingdom’s possible exit from the Euro-
pean Union and difficulty at German banks. Emerging-
markets stocks were down slightly because of Chinese
and Russian stocks’ declines.
Brent crude prices ended February at about $36.50 a
barrel, which was its highest level since Jan. 5 and
about 10% above its price at the end of January. Some-
what counterintuitively, the energy sector was one
of the two worst-performing U.S. equity sectors in
February, sliding 2.4%.
Vanguard Energy
VGENX, with
a Morningstar Analyst Rating of Neutral, did even
worse, declining almost 2.5%. The best-performing U.S.
equity sector was the materials sector, which rallied
on a strong earnings release from bellwether
Dow
Chemical
DOW, which posted strong volumes and
profit growth in advance of its pending merger with
DuPont
DD.
The bondlike utilities sector also rallied, as did the
industrials sector. The utilities sector’s strength
was good news for Gold-rated
Franklin Utilities
FKUTX, which rose 2.2%.
K
Contact Robert at
robert.goldsborough@morningstar.comTotal Return
%
Through
A N N U A L I Z E D
02-29-16
1Mo YTD 3Yr
5Yr
10Yr
Benchmark Performance
U.S. Stocks Flat in February
Market Overview
|
Robert Goldsborough
Large Growth
-1.1 -8.1 10.0 8.6 6.1
Large Blend
-0.3 -5.7 8.7 8.3 5.5
Large Value
0.1 -5.2 7.2 7.4 4.6
Mid-Cap Growth
-0.1 -8.4 7.1 6.5 5.6
Mid-Cap Blend
0.8 -5.6 6.8 6.6 5.4
Mid-Cap Value
0.8 -5.6 6.5 6.5 5.5
Small Growth
-1.0 -10.7 5.5 5.7 5.1
Small Blend
0.7 -6.7 5.3 5.6 4.8
Small Value
1.2 -5.5 4.7 5.4 4.7
Aggressive Allocation
-0.4 -5.1 4.4 4.6 3.8
Conservative Allocation
0.0 -1.8 1.8 3.4 3.8
Moderate Allocation
-0.2 -3.7 4.4 5.0 4.6
Communications
1.8 -0.4 7.6 6.2 3.8
Financial
-2.8 -11.2 5.0 5.0 0.6
Global Real Estate
-0.2 -4.8 1.5 4.3 2.5
Health
-2.8 -16.2 16.2 16.2 9.6
Natural Resources
2.1 -4.4 -10.7 -8.7 -1.3
Equity Precious Metals
29.9 32.1 -17.3 -19.0 -2.7
Real Estate
-0.5 -4.6 7.0 8.4 5.2
Technology
-0.9 -9.1 11.8 7.1 6.8
Utilities
1.2 3.0 6.5 7.6 6.2
S&P 500
-0.1 -5.1 10.7 10.0 6.4
S&P MidCap 400
1.4 -4.4 8.2 8.3 7.2
Russell 2000
-0.2 -8.8 5.8 6.1 5.0
Diversified Pacific/Asia
-2.9 -8.6 0.5 1.3 2.3
Diversified Emerging Mkts
-1.0 -6.4 -8.0 -5.0 1.5
Europe Stock
-2.3 -8.1 2.2 2.0 2.7
Foreign Large Blend
-2.5 -8.3 -0.2 0.0 1.3
Foreign Large Growth
-2.3 -8.1 1.1 1.5 2.5
Foreign Large Value
-2.7 -8.2 -0.7 -0.7 0.3
Foreign Small/Mid Growth
-1.9 -8.1 4.3 4.1 4.2
Foreign Small/Mid Value
-0.7 -7.6 1.9 1.2 2.4
World Stock
-0.9 -6.3 4.2 4.2 3.7
MSCI World
-0.7 -6.7 5.3 4.9 3.8
MSCI Emerging Markets
-0.2 -6.6 -8.9 -5.4 1.8
MSCI EAFE
-1.8 -8.9 0.4 0.6 1.5
MSCI Europe
-1.8 -8.3 0.6 0.7 1.8
MSCI Latin America
3.8 -1.0 -19.9 -14.1 -0.6
MSCI Pacific
-1.9 -10.2 -0.1 0.4 0.8
High Yield Bond
0.2 -1.3 0.2 3.2 5.2
Inflation-Protected Bond
0.7 1.5 -2.1 1.7 3.2
Intermediate-Term Bond
0.4 1.2 1.5 3.3 4.3
Muni National Long
0.0 1.0 2.9 5.8 4.2
World Bond
1.0 1.1 -0.9 1.3 3.9
BarCap US Agg Bond TR USD 0.9 2.1 2.2 3.5 4.5
BofAML US HY Master II TR 0.5 -1.1 0.6 3.9 6.5
BarCap Municipal TR USD
0.2 1.4 3.4 5.5 4.8