The Year in Funds So Far morningstar.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from morningstar.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
U.S. equity markets finished up in 2021’s first quarter but not without some bumps. The Morningstar US Market Index rose 6.0% for the year through March, with value leading the way for a change. The Morningstar US Small, Mid, and Large Value indexes gained 20.8%, 16.5%, and 9.3%, respectively, through March 31. Growth stocks across the market-cap spectrum, on the other hand, posted losses for the period. High-flying large-growth companies from 2020 faced challenges. Zoom Video Communications (ZM), ServiceNow (NOW), Tesla (TSLA), and MercadoLibre (MELI) each fell in the first quarter, though they still sit miles ahead of their prepandemic levels.
The year had a volatile start. The Morningstar US Market Index fell in January as titans gave back 2020 gains. A social-media-fueled frenzy launched GameStop (GME) from about $17 on Jan. 5 to a $348 Jan. 28 peak, squeezing professional investors who had been shorting the moribund retailer. Then good vaccine news, dovish interest-rate signa
Editor’s note:Read the latest on how the coronavirus is rattling the markets and what investors can do to navigate it.
U.S. equity markets kept climbing in 2020’s fourth quarter, making for a strong close to a crazy year. The passage of a second coronavirus relief bill and rollout of COVID-19 vaccines strengthened expectations in a swift bounceback from the pandemic, boosting the S&P 500 index to 33 all-time highs. It ended the year at a record 3,756, up 12.2% in the final quarter and nearly 20% for the year. From the index’s March low, it gained 65.2%. Growth funds across the market-cap spectrum posted the biggest gains, while value continued to underperform.