SEATTLE, WA -- (Marketwire) -- 08/29/12 -- The Russell Asia Pacific Index returned +7.6% year-to-date as of August 27th, including a +1.5% return for the month of August to date.

Helping to drive the year-to-date return for the Index includes country constituents Thailand (24.9%), Singapore (24.3%), the Philippines (23.4%), New Zealand (16.1%) and Hong Kong (13.4%).

Notably, country constituents China (3.2%), Japan (2.9%) and Indonesia (2.7%) have had the lowest returns year-to-date within the Index. China (-0.2%) and Indonesia (-1.0%) have moved down thus far in August, while Japan has moved upward, returning +2.0%.

"We've been writing all year about Thailand and the Philippines leading Asian equity markets given that the market dynamics in these countries can be largely insulated from macroeconomic cycles elsewhere," said Sarah Lien, Senior Research Analyst for Russell Investments. "What is perhaps more interesting to note is the divergence between the returns of China and Hong Kong's equity markets in 2012. Though it is often hard to differentiate between these markets, equity investors have shown a clear preference for Hong Kong."

Russell Asia Pacific Index Returns

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                     Aug Month-To-Date  Third Qtr-To-Date     Year-To-Date
Index                As of August 27th  As of August 27th  As of August 27th
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Russell Asia-
Pacific Index               1.5%               2.9%               7.6%
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                     Aug Month-To-Date  Third Qtr-To-Date     Year-To-Date
Country              As of August 27th  As of August 27th  As of August 27th
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Australia                   1.8%               8.7%              12.6%
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China                      -0.2%               0.1%               3.2%
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Hong Kong                   2.4%               6.1%              13.4%
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Indonesia                  -1.0%               3.8%               2.7%
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India                       2.2%               1.7%              10.4%
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Japan                       2.0%              -0.2%               2.9%
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Korea                       0.3%               3.5%               8.1%
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Malaysia                    1.9%               6.0%              12.0%
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New Zealand                 1.5%               6.5%              16.1%
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Philippines                -4.3%              -2.7%              23.4%
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Singapore                   0.2%               7.8%              24.3%
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Thailand                    3.6%               6.6%              24.9%
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Taiwan                      3.6%               5.0%              10.4%
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The Russell Global Index includes more than 10,000 securities in 48 countries and covers 98% of the investable global market. All securities in the benchmark are classified according to size, region, country and sector. Daily Returns for the main components are available here: http://www.russell.com/indexes/data/daily_total_returns_global.asp

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