"If the market does Adidas shoes   come back in a big way and we start to see the recovery trade, you may start to see that spread narrow, as investors start to chase the low-quality assets," Mr. Pradhuman said.But if investors do start to feel more comfortable with riskier stocks, the Russell 2000 could come roaring back, closing the distance between the two cheap Adidas shoes  indexes."I wouldn't look for a whole lot out of them, frankly," Mr. Wilson said. "Stocks are going to have to do a little work to get through that converging 50- and 200-moving day averages."Technicians say neither the broad Russell 2000 or the S&P 600 is poised to start a comeback with a significant rally in Adidas superstar  the short term.

In both indexes, the 50-day moving average is on track to converge with its 200-day moving average, probably within the next 10 days, said John Wilson, technical analyst at Morgan Keegan.In June, both the S&P 600 and Russell Growth indexes posted smaller losses Gucci Handbags than their Value counterparts.  If the moving averages converge around the 340 level in the S&P 600, the index will probably encounter some resistance, he said. The S&P 600 Growth index fell 5.9% in June, compared to an 8.4% drop in the S&P Value index. Similarly, the Russell 2000 Growth slid 6.8%, versus an 8.9% decline in the Russell 2000 value index. The market's preference for safer small-cap Gucci Wallets  stocks is also reflected in the diverging performances of the growth and value measures within each family of indexes.

"There is a lower-quality bias typically associated with the Russell 2000 and an illiquidity component as well," said Satya Pradhuman, director of research at Gucci Outlet  Cirrus Research.When rattled investors started to retreat from riskier assets during the declines of May and June, the Russell 2000 took the bigger hit. The difference is largely due to the broader swath of companies tracked in the Russell 2000. Over the past 12 months, the S&P 600 has gained 19.2%, Vibram Five Fingers  while the Russell 2000 lags slightly behind, up 17.8%.The deeper measure includes more risky, less-liquid companies than the S&P 600, which has liquidity and financial viability criteria for its stocks.

The divergence has been compounded by the market's weakness in May and June, as well as Friday's sharp selloff, but not limited to this summer. But the Vibram FiveFingers  Russell 2000 index of small-capitalization stocks has had a tougher time climbing out of its slump and the measure is down about 3% since the year's start.After Monday trading, the Standard & Poor's SmallCap 600 had whittled its year-to-date losses down to roughly 1.5%.However, itFiveFingers    is less typical to see the two benchmark small-cap indexes diverging, with their performances widening particularly since the onset of market weakness in May. It isn't unusual to see the performance of the 30-component Dow Jones Industrial Average diverging from the Standard & Poor's 500-share index or the technology-oriented FiveFingers   Nasdaq Composite.