U.S. equities and stock exchange traded funds slipped on the last day of trading after a stellar weak of earnings helped push markets back into the green, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq breaking to new heights.
U.S. stocks rose over April, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 1.3%, the Nasdaq Composite 2.2% higher and the S&P 500 up 0.9%. The Nasdaq Composite also managed to break above 6,000 for the first time ever, bolstered by strong technology sector earnings.
Over the past month, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSEArca: SPY), iShares Core S&P 500 ETF (NYSEArca: IVV) and Vanguard 500 Index (NYSEArca: VOO) rose 2.1% while the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (NYSEArca: DIA) gained 2.2% and PowerShares QQQ (NasdaqGM: QQQ) increased 3.8%.
The best performing non-leveraged exchange traded products for the past month including the VanEck Vectors India Small-Cap Index ETF (NYSEArca: SCIF) up 10.1%, ARK’s Industrial Innovation ETF (NYSEArca: ARKQ) up 9.7% and PowerShares S&P Small Cap Utilities Portfolio (NasdaqGM: PSCU) up 9.6%.
On the other hand, the worst non-leveraged ETPs of the past month include the iPath Bloomberg Cocoa TR Sub-Index ETN (NYSEArca: NIB) down 15.5%, iPath Bloomberg Sugar Subindex Total Return ETN (NYSEArca: SGG) down 14.5% and VanEck Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSEArca: GDXJ) down 14.2%.
The equities market largely remained in range bound, sideways action through the early part of April due to a mix of economic data.
The Federal Reserve also revealed a possible outline for this year’s monetary policy, including a gradual rate hike combined with the initial unwinding of its $4.5 trillion balance sheet.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump stated that he wants to continue pushing forward with a plan to repeal Obamacare before working on potential tax cuts. The initial euphoria over the Trump administration’s proposed pro-growth plans have already begun to fade as investors grow wary of the administration’s ability to push through its agenda.
Markets enjoyed a boost after the first round of French presidential elections, which had pro-EU candidate in the lead who wanted to maintain the status quo, lessening the political risk that gripped global market sentiment.
Investors also turned risk-on during the later half of April after Trump announced plans for tax reform, including cutting the corporate tax rate in half to 15% and capital gains by two-thirds to 20%.
Furthermore, U.S. stocks rallied over the last week of April on a spate of better-than-expected earnings, notably in the technology sector, which helped push the tech-heavy Nasdaq above its 6,000 level.
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