Stock Funds Fell 2.3% in February

February wasn’t kind to stocks, but fund investors are still sitting on strong gains on average for the year to date. The average U.S.-stock fund fell 2.3% in February, to trim the year-to-date gain to 5.3%.

March 6, 2023 . 12:50 PM

1 min read

The average U.S.-stock fund fell 2.3% in February, to trim the year-to-date gain to 5.3%.
Stronger-than-expected economic releases in February helped to deflate investors who had just started to smile after January’s rally.
Growth stocks—companies that are expected to deliver faster-than-average profit growth—were hammered in the 2022 market downturn.
Funds focused on investment-grade debt (the most common type of fixed-income fund) declined 2.4% on average in February, to trim the year-to-date gain to 0.8%.
Many analysts caution that growth stocks, and the funds that invest in them, won’t necessarily continue their run.