Never miss a story — sign up for PLANSPONSOR newsletters to keep up on the latest retirement plan benefits news.
S&P: Global Equities Shined in 2005
According to S&P’s year-end global stock market
review, the S&P/Citigroup Developed World Index
returned 11.71% in 2005 sparked by the performance of
Asia-Pacific equity markets, which gained 27.41% for the
year. That powerful number dwarfed the 11.08% and 7.86%
increases in Europe and North America.
“Investors were able to see past a number of
headlines, including inflated energy prices, hurricanes,
terrorist bombings, and social unrest, to help equity
markets turn in a year of strong performance,” said
Nicholas Aninos, analyst at Standard & Poor’s Index
Services, in a news release.
Standard & Poor’s data shows that small-cap stocks
outperformed large-cap equities both in relative and
discrete terms for all of 2005. The smaller-cap
S&P/Citigroup Extended Market Index bulled ahead by
15.45% while the larger-cap S&P/Citigroup Primary
Market Index advanced 10.71%. The under $2 billion
cap-range gained 17.41% versus the 8.86% gain for the over
$10 billion cap-range during the year. Also for 2005, the
S&P/Citigroup Growth Index bested the Value Index
13.27% versus 10.12%.
The S&P/Citigroup Emerging Markets Index finished the
year up 29.37%. For the year, emerging market country
returns ranged from a 20.40% return in Venezuela to a
150.36% gain in Egypt. The S&P/Citigroup Global
Composite Index, which combines developed and emerging
markets, pulled ahead 12.56% in 2005.