U.S. equity markets limped to the halfway mark of 2015 amid the situation in Greece. After closing on June 23 up nearly 5% year-to-date, the Russell 3000 index finished the first half up only 1.94%.
Small-cap stocks fared better than their large-cap counterparts in the first six months of the year as the Russell 2000 returned 4.76% vs. 1.71% for the Russell 1000.
Despite the situation in Greece, European markets fared very well in the first half. Germany's DAX index was up nearly 12%, France's CAC 40 index up 15% and the Euro Stoxx 600 index gained 13.9%.
REITs have reversed course from 2014. After returning 28% last year, equity REITs were down more than 5% in the first half of 2015. Mortgage REITs were also off more than 5% after returning 18% in 2014.
