Using our publicly available analysis tools, we examined the performance of the Russell 2000 index during the month of July 2025. The Russell 2000 index had a gain of 1.68% in July 2025, marking three (3) consecutive months of positive returns from May 2025 to July 2025. In spite of three consecutive months of positive returns, as of the end of July 2025, year-to-date return for the Russell 2000 index continues to be in negative territory (-0.83%).
As we closed the month of July, we used our publicly available analysis tools to place the performance of the Russell 2000 index within a historical context of market performance. In particular, we wished to better understand how Russell 2000 index performance in July 2025 compared to performance in July of previous years.
The Russell 2000 index gained 1.68% in July 2025 (Figure 1). In fact, the gain in July 2025 represented the third consecutive month of positive returns for the Russell 2000 index (Figure 1).
We then examined the historical performance of the Russell 2000 index for the month of July. Historically and on average, the Russell 2000 index has shown positive returns in July. Figure 2 shows average monthly (January to December) returns from January 1995 to July 2025. Based on this 31-year dataset, the Russell 2000 index has exhibited an average return of +0.40% in July.
To delve deeper into the analysis shown in Figure 2 with a focus on the month of July, we examined the Russell 2000 index performance for every July from 1995 to 2025 (Figure 3). In July 2025, the Russell 2000 index had a gain of 1.68%. As shown in Figure 3, there is great variability with respect to returns in the month of July. On average, however, during the period examined, the Russell 2000 index has shown positive returns in July (see Figure 2 above).
Unlike the S&P 500 index and Nasdaq Composite index that had multiple new all-time high records in July 2025, the Russell 2000 index did not reach new high levels in July 2025. In fact, the Russell 2000 index has not had a new all-time high record since November 8, 2021 (2,442.74)
The Russell 2000 index had a gain of 1.68% in July 2025, marking three (3) consecutive months of positive returns from May 2025 to July 2025. In spite of three consecutive months of positive returns, as of the end of July 2025, year-to-date return for the Russell 2000 index continues to be in negative territory (-0.83%).
To gain additional historical insights about market index performance, use any one of our Market Index Analysis tools. We use these analysis tools ourselves to gain insights into market performance and to highlight a variety of interesting observations in our historical insights articles.
