In September, the Dow was up 2.7%, the Nasdaq gained 5.7% and the S&P 500 was 2.7% higher.
The stock markets began to rebound at the start of September after President Obama found more support for a strike against Syria in response to the deployment of chemical weapons against its citizenry.
The Syria drama mostly dissipated and lifted market uncertainty as the Syrian government voiced its consent to begin destroying its chemical weapon stores to ease the risk of a military strike.
U.S. economic data continued to support the equities rally, with a notable dip in employment payroll growth, which lowered expectations for tapering. Stocks also strengthened after Lawrence Summers withdrew as a candidate for next Fed Chair – Summers was seen as less accommodative than others.
In mid-September, benchmark indices hit all-time highs after the Fed unexpectedly announced its intent to maintain its current accommodative measures.
After the focus on the Fed, the markets turned their attention to the debt ceiling, with many taking profits on the new high and heading for the exits as the deadline neared.
Top performing non-leveraged ETFs over September include Guggenheim Solar ETF (NSYEArca: TAN) up 26.3%, Market Vectors Solar Energy (NYSEArca: KWT) up 24.3% and EGShares India Consumer ETF (NYSEArca: INCO) up 21.2%.
India stocks rebounded after the Reserve Bank of India named a new chair and a steep sell-off on a quickly depreciating rupee currency and potential Fed tapering. [WisdomTree: India’s Rock-Star Economist Assumes Central Bank Leadership]
The worst performing non-leveraged ETFs in September include C-Tracks on Citit Volatility Index ETN (NYSEArca: CVOL) down 25.5%, Global X Gold Explorers ETF (NYSEArca: GLDX) down 21.5% and VelocityShares Daily Long VIX Short-Term ETN (NYSEArca: VIIX) down 15.8%.
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Max Chen contributed to this article.