The Wilshire 5000 Total Market Index, the original broad measure of the United States stock market, had the best month of July in its 39-year history in terms of price return, closing at 10158.61, up 730.42 points or 7.73% for the month. That resulted in a paper gain of USD 800 billion, according to Wilshire Associates Incorporated, a global independent investment consulting and services firm.
This is a small-cap lead rally with small-cap stocks beating large-cap stocks for every month of the rally except May, says Robert J. Waid, vice president, Wilshire Associates and head of Wilshire Index Research. Since the recent Wilshire 5000 low on March 9, 2009, the small-cap return is 71.52% compared to the large-cap return of 46.38%. Micro-cap stocks have done even better with a return of 85.58%. This also is the first time we’ve had five positive months in a row since the six months ending January 2007.
The Wilshire Global Total Market Index, closed at 2054.60, which represents a monthly gain of 8.56 percent. The Wilshire Global exUS Index was up 9.10% this past month.
On a regional basis, Europe outperformed Middle East & Africa, Asia/Pacific, and Latin America by posting a gain of 10.14% as measured by the Wilshire Regional Indexes. Middle East & Africa posted the narrowest gain of 5.18% for the month.
The Wilshire US Small-Cap Index posted a gain of 10.14% and the Wilshire Global Small-Cap Index posted a gain of 9.45%. The Wilshire US Micro-Cap IndexSM had an up month with a gain of 9.04%. The Wilshire US Large-Cap Index was up 7.45%. On a global basis, the Wilshire Global Large-Cap Index gained 8.4%4. In the United States, the Wilshire US Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) Index rose 10.39% and the Wilshire US Real Estate Securities Index (RESI) added 10.50%. The Wilshire Global REIT Index posted a 10.36% gain. The broader Wilshire Global RESI , which represents 23 countries in Europe, the Americas, Asia/Pacific and Africa, closed the month up 10.22%.
D.C.