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Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on February 28, 2020.
Scott Heins | Getty Images
As the coronavirus continues to roil global markets, small cap stocks have been hit especially hard.
Looking at data through the end of February, Barclays said they're on pace for their worst start to the year since 2009. But the firm said that despite the broad under-performance, there are still attractive buying opportunities among small companies.
While all major averages are in the red for the year, small caps are lagging the broader market. The S&P Small Cap 600 has shed 13.5%, while the S&P Mid Cap 400 and S&P 500 are down 12% and 9.3%, respectively. Part of this could be due to small cap stocks generally being considered riskier than their larger cap peers.
