The difference last month between the returns of the Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 and Dow Jones Industrial Average was 3.19 percentage points, the widest variance since October 2002 when it was 3.2 percentage points, according to a news release from Wilshire Associates. The Dow Jones Wilshire 5000 returned 2.09% for the month, while the DJIA returned -1.1%. The main reason for the variance was the result of negative contributions to the DJIA from large financials, such as Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan and AIG, and from a more than 25% decline in General Motors, Steven J. Foresti, managing director and head of the investment research group of Wilshire Consulting, said in the release.
Emerging markets registered the strongest returns for the month, with the Dow Jones Wilshire Emerging Europe Index returning 12.42% and the Dow Jones Wilshire Latin America Index, 9.07%. Developed regions outside the U.S. struggled, with the Dow Jones Wilshire Developed Europe and Dow Jones Wilshire Asia-Pacific indexes posting returns of 0.85% and 0.20%, respectively.