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Despite the end of the general equity winning streak, certain investment disciplines and markets continued to advance including value stocks and small-caps, while stocks in Japan soared.
"On a regional basis, surging stock prices in Japan lifted the BMI Asia-Pacific to a 9.81% jump in March, while the BMI Europe and the BMI North America fell 2.99% and 1.14% in U.S. dollar terms, respectively," said Patrick Kerr, Associate Director, Standard & Poor's. "Among individual stock markets, the 14.61% jump for the BMI Japan led all developed markets in March, helped in part by the dollar's nearly 5% slide versus the yen."
Global Value Beats Growth
The BMI World Value edged 0.10% higher in March, topping the 0.54% decrease for the BMI World Growth.
"By investment style, internationally, growth stocks lagged for the sixth straight month. Similarly, Value outperformed its Growth counterpart over the trailing 12-month period, by a more than 10% advantage," said Kerr.
International Small-caps Continue Gains
Small-cap stocks also continued strong performance in March. The Extended Market Index (EMI) which measures the small-cap universe (defined as the bottom 20% BMI market cap for each developed country), for the developed world gained 1.57% in March, beating the 0.71% fall for the Primary Market Index (PMI) Developed World, which measures the large-cap universe (defined as the top 80% BMI market cap for each country). Among Emerging Markets, the EMI rose 1.73%, topping the 0.98% rise for the PMI Emerging Markets.
Emerging Markets Remain Strong
Emerging regions remained relatively strong in March, rising by 1.15% overall. While the BMI Emerging Asia-Pacific lagged with a 1.70% decrease, the other emerging regions rose in the month, led by a 12.26% surge for the BMI Emerging Europe. The BMI Mid-East & Africa rose 3.28% and the BMI Latin America added 1.66%, all in U.S. dollar terms. Leading among emerging markets in March were the BMI Peru and the BMI Russia, which gained 16.38% and 13.82%, respectively, in U.S. dollar terms. The strongest markets in the first quarter of 2004 were the BMI Colombia and the BMI Russia, which soared 45.14% and 33.87%, correspondingly, in dollar terms.
The full monthly report of index performance and commentary entitled, "The World By Numbers: Global Stock Market Review" offers index performance and total return figures by country, region, market segment and investment style is available on www.indices.standardandpoors.com.
About S&P/Citigroup Global Equity Indices
The S&P/Citigroup global equity index series is a broad, flexible benchmarking system. With coverage of over 7,500 companies in 52 countries, representing 97% of the world market capitalization, the S&P/Citigroup indices measure across size segment, region, country, and sectors. The indices, which provide the world's only complete free-float adjusted history dating back to 1989, follow a simple rules-based methodology that includes all companies with a total float-adjusted market capitalization greater than US$ 100 million.
More information about the S&P/Citigroup Global Equity Indices can be found on www.indices.standardandpoors.com.
Standard & Poor's
Standard & Poor's, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE:MHP), is the world's foremost provider of independent credit ratings, indices, risk evaluation, investment research, data and valuations. With 5,000 employees located in 20 countries, Standard & Poor's is an essential part of the world's financial infrastructure and has played a leading role for more than 140 years in providing investors with the independent benchmarks they need to feel more confident about their investment and financial decisions. For more information, visit www.standardandpoors.com.
