The world equity market rally that began in early March continued for most of the second quarter, helping investment returns finish the first half of 2009 in positive territory. The stock market as represented by the S&P 500 and the Russell 3000 equity indices advanced 15.9% and 16.8%, respectively, in the quarter. Year-to-date, the two indices are up 3.2% and 4.2%, respectively. International stocks remained well ahead of stocks. The MSCI All Country World ex-US index advanced 27.6% for the quarter and 13.9% year-to-date. Interestingly enough, stocks from developing countries represented by the MSCI Emerging Market index recorded their largest quarterly gain ever of 34.7% and posted even more impressive performance year-to-date with a gain of 36%.
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