Reviewing February Equity Returns

February ended up being a month where cyclicals and developed markets outperformed. On an equal-weighted, USD basis, the material sector was the best performing developed market sector in February. Materials were up 7.2%, followed by information technology (6.7%) and consumer discretionary (5.7%).  Utilities was the only sector that ended the month in negative territory (-3.1%). The average stock in the MSCI World Index was up 4.6%.

The emerging markets had a slightly tougher time in February. The averages stock was only up 0.2% and six out of the 10 sectors ended the month with negative performance. However, it was still a cyclical led market in the emerging markets as well. The best performing sector was industrials (2.8%) followed by materials (2.2%) and energy (1.3%).

MSCI World Performance By Sector


MSCI Emerging Markets Performance By Sector


MSCI World Performance By Industry Group


MSCI Emerging Markets Performance By Industry Group


MSCI World Top 10 Best Performing Stocks


MSCI Emerging Markets Top 10 Best Performing Stocks


MSCI World Bottom 10 Worst Performing Stocks


MSCI Emerging Markets Bottom 10 Worst Performing Stocks