• Dow Jones Industrial Index (DJIA) and S&P 500 decline, but NASDAQ remains strong.

• Gold and copper had big moves for the week, up 2.73% and 4.31%, respectively.

• The best-performing fund for 2017 so far is the US Global Investors Gold & Precious Metals (USERX).

• Make sure to check out the previous edition of the Weekly Roundup to get the whole picture.

U.S. Equity – U.S. equities were sluggish for the week, with the DJIA decreasing 0.39% for the week at 19,886. The S&P 500 was down 0.10% for the week and reached 2,275. The NASDAQ was the best performing US index, up 0.96% for the week at 5,574 and hit a new all-time high on Thursday.

The consumer discretionary sector was the week’s best performer, up 0.84% for the week and up more than 3% for the year. This is likely due to the strength in the economy, which is causing consumers to spend more of their income on discretionary items.

International Equity – Unlike the U.S. markets, the international markets were up, with the MSCI Developed Index increasing 0.82% for the week and the MSCI Emerging Index up 1.69%. Japan’s NIKKEI corrected from the week before, down 0.86% for the week. The Yen dropped 1.61% compared to the dollar over the last week, partially contributing to the poor performance in the NIKKEI.

Commodities – The commodity sector was mixed, with oil down $1.62 per barrel, or 3.00%, and closing at $52.37 per barrel. The price of gold continued its positive trend for the third week in a row and was up $23 per troy ounce. Copper continued to show a positive trend with a big gain this week, up $0.14 per pound or 5.49%.

Be sure to check our important tips on how to invest in the right commodity-based mutual fund.

Taxable Bonds – The Treasury bond yields all declined for the week, with the 2-year Treasury yield decreasing 2 bps to 1.19%. Both the 10-year and 30-year treasuries went down by 2 bps. Now that the Fed has finally raised interest rates, become familiar with how to rebalance your portfolio based on interest rate hikes.

Municipal Bonds – Along with Treasuries, municipal bond yields also decreased across the board.

Both the 2-year AAA-rated and the 10-year AAA-rated municipal bond yields decreased 7 bps and 10 bps, respectively, from the week before. The 30-year AAA-rated municipal bond yield declined 9 bps from the week prior. Municipal fund flows finally showed inflows of $79 million, recovering from a 7-week trend of outflows.

The following table provides a list of the top-performing mutual fund subcategories for the previous week within the broader categories of industry. In each of those subcategories, we have listed the top mutual funds based on month-to-date (MTD) fund return generated as of Jan. 13, 2017.

Top-performing fund: US Global Investors Gld & Prec Mtls (USERX)

This fund is heavily invested in gold mining companies, with the top holding Klondex Mines Ltd. (KLDX) up more than 10% for the year.

The following table provides the top-performing mutual funds on a YTD basis, as of Jan. 13, 2017. Only those funds that are rated 5 stars by Morningstar and that generated YTD return greater than that achieved by the S&P 500 are included.

We provide this report on a weekly basis. To stay up to date with mutual fund market events, return to our News section.