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Equity markets around the globe suffered a punishing
December, as continued energy-price declines
and concerns about China’s economy dragged down
stocks across many sectors and geographies. In
the United States, the Federal Reserve increased inter-
est rates. However, the move didn’t have much of
an impact on the markets as the Fed had signaled the
change for quite a while. Strong U.S. jobs data
couldn’t overcome more pain from commodities, as oil
and commodity prices continued to search for a
bottom. U.S. stocks slid more than
1
.
5%
for the month;
foreign developed markets were down slightly less.
Emerging markets felt the most pain in December, de-
clining
2
.
2%
for the month. The energy rout was
the biggest contributor, although investors’ concerns
about the Chinese real estate market and further
devaluation of the Chinese yuan more than offset some
encouraging economic data from the region, includ-
ing better-than-expected retail sales, industrial produc-
tion, and housing prices.
The Brent Crude oil spot price fell more than
$9
in
December, finishing the year at
$36
.
46
a barrel. The
materials sector fell
4
.
6%
, and the industrials sector
slid
2
.
9%
. Several defensive sectors actually rallied in
December, including the staples sector, which was
up
2
.
4%
, and the bondlike utilities sector, which rose
2
.
0%
.
Franklin Utilities
FKUTX
, with a Morningstar
Analyst Rating of Gold, lagged its Morningstar Cate-
gory, returning
0
.
7%
for the month.
Amid commodity-price weakness, Russian stocks
were not surprisingly among December’s worst country
performers, falling
10
.
1%
.
The U.S. bond market was down in December, with
bond yields up meaningfully for all but the shortest
of maturities.
K
Contact Robert at
robert.goldsborough@morningstar.comTotal Return
%
Through
A N N U A L I Z E D
12-31-15
1Mo
YTD
3Yr
5Yr
10Yr
Benchmark Performance
A Shaky End to 2015
Market Overview
|
Robert Goldsborough
Large Growth
-1.7
3.6
15.3
11.7
7.3
Large Blend
-2.0
-1.1
13.2
10.7
6.4
Large Value
-2.5
-4.0
11.6
9.7
5.6
Mid-Cap Growth
-2.8
-0.9
12.8
9.6
7.2
Mid-Cap Blend
-3.5
-4.7
11.4
9.1
6.5
Mid-Cap Value
-4.0
-5.4
11.5
9.1
6.6
Small Growth
-4.3
-2.4
12.2
9.4
7.1
Small Blend
-5.0
-5.4
10.3
8.2
6.3
Small Value
-5.3
-6.7
9.4
7.7
6.0
Aggressive Allocation
-2.1
-2.8
7.9
6.7
4.7
Conservative Allocation
-1.4
-2.3
3.2
4.3
4.1
Moderate Allocation
-1.8
-1.9
7.0
6.5
5.2
Communications
-1.1
0.8
8.6
7.1
4.4
Financial
-3.4
-0.9
12.1
8.5
2.1
Global Real Estate
0.3
-0.9
4.2
6.1
3.9
Health
0.6
8.0
26.8
21.2
12.0
Natural Resources
-8.0 -22.2
-8.6
-6.8
-0.3
Equity Precious Metals
0.4 -23.3 -29.4
-23.9
-4.5
Real Estate
1.4
2.4
10.1
11.1
6.6
Technology
-2.1
5.2
17.0
10.7
8.3
Utilities
-0.1
-9.9
7.6
7.9
6.5
S&P 500
-1.7
1.3
15.0
12.5
7.3
S&P MidCap 400
-4.2
-2.2
12.8
10.7
8.2
Russell 2000
-5.0
-4.5
11.6
9.2
6.8
Diversified Pacific/Asia
-0.2
1.4
5.2
3.2
3.9
Diversified Emerging Mkts
-2.5 -13.8
-5.7
-4.4
3.2
Europe Stock
-1.9
1.7
6.2
4.8
4.5
Foreign Large Blend
-1.9
-1.6
3.7
2.6
2.8
Foreign Large Growth
-1.6
1.0
4.9
3.8
3.9
Foreign Large Value
-2.1
-3.1
3.0
2.2
1.8
Foreign Small/Mid Growth
0.0
7.1
8.8
6.2
5.7
Foreign Small/Mid Value
-0.5
2.3
6.4
3.6
4.0
World Stock
-2.0
-1.7
8.3
6.5
5.0
MSCI World
-1.8
-0.9
9.6
7.6
5.0
MSCI Emerging Markets
-3.8 -16.2
-8.1
-5.6
2.8
MSCI EAFE
-2.3
-1.0
4.1
3.3
2.8
MSCI Europe
-2.6
-2.8
4.5
3.9
3.4
MSCI Latin America
-4.7 -32.9 -21.6
-16.9
-1.6
MSCI Pacific
0.9
3.0
5.8
3.2
2.4
High Yield Bond
-2.3
-4.0
1.3
4.1
5.6
Inflation-Protected Bond
-0.9
-2.4
-2.8
1.6
3.0
Intermediate-Term Bond
-0.6
-0.3
1.2
3.2
4.2
Muni National Long
0.8
3.1
2.9
5.7
4.2
World Bond
-0.5
-4.0
-1.5
1.3
3.9
BarCap US Agg Bond TR USD
-0.2
0.5
1.4
3.1
4.3
BofAML US HY Master II TR
-2.6
-4.6
1.6
4.8
6.8
BarCap Municipal TR USD
0.7
3.3
3.2
5.3
4.7