The Wilshire 5000 index ended the first quarter down 12.6% at 10,645.85, compared with 12,175.88 as of Dec. 31, costing investors $1.8 trillion in the first three months of the year. For the year ended March 31, the Wilshire 5000 lost 25.5%, costing investors a total of $4.2 trillion.
The 25-year-old index of almost 7,000 U.S.-based equity securities is among the broadest U.S. equity indexes. Every 1-point change in the Wilshire 5000 represents about $1.15 billion in investor capital.