As a group, the shares of Utah's top publicly held companies performed surprisingly well during the first six months of 2009, despite the turmoil that continued to batter the nation's economy.

The Salt Lake Tribune /Bloomberg Index, which tracks the share-price performance of Utah's 27 largest and best-known publicly held companies, rose 1.7 percent, while the Dow Jones industrial average dipped 3.8 percent.

Unlike the Dow, which is made up of large, high-profile corporations, the Tribune /Bloomberg Index is made up primarily of what are known as small-cap companies. Such firms have a market capitalization (which is calculated by multiplying the number of shares a company has outstanding by its stock price) of $1 billion or less.

"It isn't unusual when the stock market begins to recover from a [major] downturn for small-cap companies to lead the way," said David Russon, president of Investment Management Consultants in Salt Lake City.

During the first half, the Utah index was boosted by the performance of such companies as Dynatronics Corp., up 106 percent; EnergySolutions, up 63 percent; and Nutraceutical International, whose shares have advanced 35 percent since the closing bell marking the end of 2008.

"Given where our shares started the year [at 31 cents], that 106 percent gain doesn't seem like that much," said Kelvyn Cullimore Jr., CEO of Dynatronics. "But we are happy with the company's performance."

He said Dynatronics, which manufactures and markets equipment used by physical therapists and sports medicine practitioners and whose shares closed Tuesday at 64 cents, expects soon to report its third consecutive profitable quarter.

Dynatronics shares were affected by the write-down of nearly $8 million in goodwill following the company's six acquisitions two years ago, Cullimore said. "When the recession hit, it was almost like a perfect storm for us. But lately, I think, investors are starting to take another look at us."

Shares of Utah's EnergySolutions, which disposes of nuclear waste at a landfill in Tooele County, closed Tuesday at $9.20, completing a gain of 63 percent so far this year.

Investors have recognized that EnergySolutions is a solid, stable and well-managed company, said Philip Strawbridge, EnergySolutions' chief financial officer. "During the fourth quarter of last year and the first quarter of this year -- a time when the average Fortune 500 company lost money -- we were profitable."

Park City-based Nutraceutical, which manufacturers nutritional supplements sold in health food stores, saw its shares close Tuesday at $10.39, well off last year's high of $13.99. Still, the company's shares are up 40 percent from the first of the year.

Nutraceutical recently reported that its sales for the six-month period ended March 31, 2009, were $81.6 million, compared with $85.5 million for the same period a year earlier. It reported that if a one-time charge was excluded during the period, its net income would have been $7 million, or 64 cents per share.

On the flip side of the Tribune /Bloomberg Index, some companies saw their share of losses.

Shares of SkyWest Inc., the parent company of SkyWest Airlines, are down 45 percent so far this year as the company struggles to deal with lower demand for its flights from its customers, including Delta Air Lines and Midwest Airlines.

And the shares of Zions Bancorp, the holding company for Zions First National Bank, are continuing to suffer along with those of other financial services companies. Zions shares are down 53 percent since the first of the year.

On Wall Street, investors carried the major stock indexes to a strong second-quarter performance, even though stocks' big spring rally stalled weeks ago.

The good news is that the broad market on Tuesday finished its best quarter in a decade -- a dizzy spree that lifted it 35 percent since March. The not-so-good news is that it would take almost three more rallies like the one just experienced to push the Dow back to 14,000 and return markets to where they sat before the recession began and the financial system caved in. There is a fear on Wall Street that the market is again losing its footing.

That said, the major indexes all managed double-digit percentage gains for the second quarter. The Dow and Standard & Poor's 500 logged their first quarterly gains since the third quarter of 2007. The Dow also had its best quarter since 2003 and the S&P 500 its best since 1998.

The S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq composite index are finishing the first half of 2009 in the black.

steve@sltrib.com

The Associated Press and New York Times contributed to this story