MARKET RECAP*
- Major U.S. stock markets rose slightly on the month as volatility fell to its lowest levels since mid-2014
- Cyclical sectors such as automotive and airlines continued to benefit from positive global economic momentum
- The S&P 500 finished the month on a positive note, posting a 0% gain
- Top Sectors: Technology (+2.5%), Consumer Discretionary (+2.4%)
- Bottom Sectors: Telecom (-3.3%), Energy (-2.9%)
- 40% of the S&P 500’s return last month came from four technology stocks: Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, Google
- Growth continued to outperform Value in April by 5%, leads by 8.3% year-to-date
- International developed countries increased 4% last month and now lead the S&P 500 by 3.5% YTD
- Emerging markets are the best performing asset class of 2017, rising 7% on the month and 14.42% YTD
- Long-Term Treasury yields were little changed in April, the 10-year Treasury yielded 2.29% at month end
- The decline in long term interest rates has continued to flatten the yield curve in 2017
ECONOMIC NEWS***
- The economy created 211,000 jobs in April, an improvement from the slump in March
- The unemployment rate dropped to a low of 4.4%, but hourly earnings barely beat inflation growing at 2.5%
- The economy grew at a paltry 0.7% pace during the first quarter
- The biggest contributor to the economy, personal consumption, advanced 0.3%, the slowest since 2009
- Conversely, first quarter earnings reported from 85% of the companies in the S&P 500 have shown 15.3% growth from the first quarter of 2016**
