Second Quarter in U.S. Stock Funds: Growth on Fire

As the second quarter winds to a close, the market still favors U.S. equity funds. Eight of the nine Morningstar Style Box categories have posted solid gains for the quarter to date through June 27, with small value’s slightly negative quarter-to-date category return the outlier.

U.S. growth equity funds have continued to dominate value offerings in 2017, reversing the pattern seen in 2016. Large-growth was the top-performing diversified U.S. equity Morningstar Category for both the quarter and year to date as of late June, with mid- and small-growth not far behind. Strong performance in growth-oriented sectors, including technology, fueled big rewards for many funds, though tech stocks pulled back a bit toward quarter-end.

The energy sector, a value haven and market darling in 2016, changed course in 2017 as oil prices slid during the quarter. Commodity-related stocks, such as precious metals and natural resources, also were losers in this short span. Financials stocks, which had a big tailwind in late 2016 on optimism about the potential for less regulation under the Trump administration, also cooled off.

Winners

Losers

Among the funds that had a rougher go,

Large-value fund

It’s unsurprising to see deep-value fund

For all category returns through the previous day, visit the Fund Category Performance page.

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