How growth strategies can be a barometer of the market mood

Share prices have been in recovery mode over the past four months. After a sharp slide on the UK market late last year, the bulls appear to be back in charge in 2019. When it comes to investment styles, some of the big early winners from this kind of change in sentiment are the growth strategies - and we’re starting to see the signs of that.

The bulls fend off the bears… for now

Last autumn’s market dip had many of us wondering whether time was officially up for the long running momentum streak. But while the downswing was dramatic, the mood has turned much more upbeat in 2019.

The large-cap FTSE 100 index, for instance, is up by 10 percent since January. The FTSE 250 and the growth-focused AIM All-Share are both up by 13 percent. Setting the tone for all this - on the other side of the Atlantic - the US Samp;P 500 is once again troubling the record books as it stretches to new all-time highs.

Among the top UK performers over the past six months, the biggest gains across the FTSE 350 have been in stocks like