Small-cap stocks outperformed large-cap equities for a sixth consecutive year in 2004, according to the small-cap Russell 2000 Index.
The index reached an all-time high at the end of 2004, the company said on Friday. Both investment styles had strong returns last year; small-cap stocks rose 18.6%, large caps 11.8%. The large-cap Russell 1000 Index was about 15% below its all-time high, however.
Dennis Jensen, a senior portfolio analyst at Russell, said the 2000 index has had a 9.4% average annual return since the start of 1999, the 1000 index, 1.8%.
Overall, each of Russell's 21 stock indexes turned in a positive performance last month. The positive month topped off a strong quarter and a good year. The indexes, which track various market segments, showed some disparity in performance for the quarter, ranging from 15.4% growth for the Russell 2000 Growth Index to 7.9% for the Russell Top 200 Growth Index.
Growth and value stocks performed nearly equally during the fourth quarter. The Russell 3000 Value Index was up 10.7%; the Russell 3000 Growth Index, 9.8%.
