Equity funds had their third consecutive quarterly gain in the second quarter of 2015, according to Lipper data. For many fund groups and categories, though, the gains were limited.
Overall, equity funds improved just 0.1% in the second quarter. World equity funds, however, rose by 1.22%, which outpaced U.S. diversity-equity funds' weak 0.03% increase.
Mixed-asset funds, other the other hand, weakened 0.7%, while sector equity funds declined 1.8%.
Some of the period's most stellar returns were posted by the commodities energy fund group, up more than 9%, while China funds rose nearly 8%. Health care/biotech funds improved roughly 5%; Japan funds ticked up about 4%.
As for laggards, real estate funds stood out, with a drop of 9%. Utilities weakened 4%, as did India funds.
(In the second quarter, the U.S. dollar weakened vs. the euro by nearly 4%, but improved vs. the yen by close to 2%. Gold prices dropped 1%, while oil gained a whopping 25%.)
