US Small Cap Stocks were the standout among US Equities, gaining 12.2%, while US Large Cap Stocks rose 10.5% and US Mega Cap Stocks gained 7.2%. Strong corporate earnings, Al-related optimism, and a 2.0% annualized Ql GDP reading helped investors look past geopolitical volatility.
Bond Markets were also positive but more subdued. Taxable Bonds rose 0.1%, limited by a Federal Reserve that kept rates steady and noted elevated inflation tied partly to global energy prices. Municipal Bonds gained 1.2% as attractive tax-exempt yields continued to support demand.
International stocks also participated strongly in the rally. International Developed Stocks rose 7.5%, helped by a weaker US dollar, while Emerging Market Stocks led all categories with a 14.7% gain as investors returned to lower valued non-US equities and sentiment improved across key developing markets.
Source: Bloomberg - All performance is percentage change of total return
The S&P 500 is an unmanaged index of 500 widely held stocks that is generally considered representative of the U.S. stock market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA), commonly known as "The Dow" is an index representing 30 stock of companies maintained and reviewed by the editors of the Wall Street Journal. The Russell 2000 Index measures the performance of the 2,000 smallest companies in the Russell 3000 Index, which represent approximately 8% of the total market capitalization of the Russell 3000 Index. The MSCI EAFE (Europe, Australasia, and Far East) is a free float-adjusted market capitalization index that is designed to measure developed market equity performance, excluding the United States & Canada. The EAFE consists of the country indices of 22 developed nations. The MSCI Emerging Markets is designed to measure equity market performance in 25 emerging market indices. The index's three largest industries are materials, energy, and banks. Bloomberg US Aggregate (BBAG): The index is a measure of the investment-grade, fixed-rate, taxable bond market of roughly 6,000 SEC-registered securities with intermediate maturities averaging approximately 10 years. The index includes bonds from the Treasury, Government-Related, Corporate, MBS, ABS, and CMBS sectors. Bloomberg Municipal Bond Index: The index is a measure of the long-term tax-exempt bond market with securities of investment grade (rated at least Baa by Moody's Investors Service and BBB by Standard and Poor's). This index has four main sectors: state and local general obligation bonds, revenue bonds, insured bonds, and pre-refunded bonds.