US posts 4th worst quarter in 20 years

The US stock market suffered one of its worst ever results in the second quarter of this year, with the broad market Russell 3000 index losing 7.2 per cent in June alone to finish the quarter 13.1 per cent down.

The result was the fourth worst performance in the 23-year history of the index.

Only the third quarter of 2001, where the index fell by 15.6 per cent in a period which included September 11, the third quarter of 1990, where the index dropped by 15.2 per cent while Iraq was invading Kuwait, and the fourth quarter of 1987, when the index fell 23 per cent, faired worse.

The continuing woes of the US market were in fact comprehensive enough over the second quarter to ensure all of Russell’s 21 stock indexes finished in the red.

The narrower Russell 1000 and Russell Top 200 indexes both fell by even more than the Russell 3000, dropping by 13.5 per cent and 14.7 per cent respectively.

The small cap Russell 2000 Value index however performed relatively admirably, loosing only 2.1 per cent over the quarter. Other value indexes, including the Russell 2500 Value index, which fell by 3.5 per cent, and the Russell Midcap Value Index, which dropped 4.7 per cent, were also relatively strong performers over the period.

By comparison, Russell’s 2000 Growth Index, 2500 Growth Index and Midcap Growth Index fell by 15.7 per cent, 16.6 per cent and 18.3 per cent respectively, continuing the domination of value stocks over their growth counterparts in the US.