Small-Cap Stocks Match a Record Streak of Big Advances

(Bloomberg) -- Just as Wall Street began to fret the U.S. equity rally was too dependent on a few lumbering technology giants, small-cap stocks took the baton and started sprinting.

The Russell 2000 Index continued its tremendous recent run of form on Wednesday, up 4.8% and capping its sixth straight advance of at least 1%. Such a streak only occurred in January 2000 and may signal further gains in the month ahead, according to an analysis from Bespoke Investment Group. The gauge has climbed about 15% since the close of April 21, compared with an almost 7.5% increase for the S&P 500 Index.

After four consecutive sessions of rallies of that magnitude, the gauge has gone on to post positive returns and outperform the S&P 500 Index over the next month in 10 of the prior 11 instances, Bespoke said.

“On the way down, sentiment toward small caps soured as investors flocked into mega-cap stocks on concerns that they would be the only ones standing coming out of the economic shutdown,” the analysts at Bespoke wrote. “Recently, though, small caps have bounced on hopes that a quicker than expected re-opening of the economy would inflict less significant damage on smaller companies.”

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