It might be time to start shopping “down market”, says Jennifer Hughes in the Financial Times. The Russell 2000 index of US small and mid-sized firms has been having a miserable year, gaining less than 1% even as the large-cap S&P 500 soars 17.5%.
Over six months, “small caps have only underperformed their bigger cousins this badly at two other points since the 2000 dotcom boom”. While mega caps rocket due to artificial intelligence fever – Nvidia alone is now “worth roughly as much as the entire Russell 2000” – struggling small caps suggest that the wider American economy is lethargic.
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