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Mutual Funds Weekly Roundup: June 1

Brian Mathews Jun 01, 2017

MutualFunds.com provides weekly information about any material impact on the mutual funds industry due to major economic and corporate events around the world. In addition, performance statistics on the top funds and fund categories are also provided.

U.S. markets rebounded from the week prior, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average increasing 1.32% this week to 21,080.

The best-performing fund so far for 2017 is the T. Rowe Price Global Technology (PRGTX).

Large Cap Growth is the best-performing rolling-one-month mutual fund subcategory.

Make sure to check out the previous edition of the Weekly Roundup to keep track of changing trends.

Market Wrap-Up

U.S. Equities – U.S. equity markets rebounded across the board this week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by 1.32% for the week and is up 6.67% year-to-date. The S&P 500 increased 1.43% for the week, closing at 2,416. Among the major indices, the NASDAQ Composite Index was this week’s best performer, up 2.08% for the week to 6,210. The NASDAQ is still the best-performing index and is up 15.36%. After last week’s selloff, investors found confidence in the market as indicated by this week’s gains.

The utilities sector was this week’s top-performing area, up 2.57%. The sector is up slightly over 10% on a year-to-date basis and is the third-best performing sector after information technology and the consumer discretionary sector. This is led by companies like NextEra Energy Inc. (NEE) that are up over 17% on a year-to-date basis.

Explore our Mutual Fund Education section to learn more about important mutual fund concepts.

International Equities – International equities were also up this week. The MSCI Developed Index had an increase of 0.22%, while the MSCI Emerging Index had a larger increase of 2.18% for the week. After Japan’s NIKKEI 225 broke its four-week positive trend last week with a decline, it bounced back this week with an increase of 0.49% to close at 19,687.

Commodities – The commodity sector was a mixed bag this week, with crude oil decreasing $0.53 per barrel and closing at $49.80 per barrel. The price of gold increased for the second week in a row, up $15 per troy ounce to close at $1,268. Copper was down $0.02 for the week to close at $2.57.

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

Taxable Bonds – Treasury yields saw no movement except for the 30-year. The 2-year and 10-year Treasury yields remained flat, while the 30-year saw a slight increase of 1 bps.

Municipal Bonds – Municipals declined across all maturities. The 2-year AAA-rated bonds dropped 2 bps, the 10-year AAA-rated bonds dropped 7 bps, and the 30-year AAA-rated bonds dropped 6 bps. Municipal bond funds also continued into the seventh week of net positive fund flows with over $344 million of inflows. The largest credit spread among Treasury and muni bonds widened to 51 bps for the 5-year securities.

Performance Snapshot: Top Fund Category

The following table provides a list of the top-performing mutual fund subcategories for the previous week within the broader categories of the industry. In each of these subcategories, we have listed the top mutual funds based on the one-month return generated as of May 26, 2017.

Category	Top Subcategory	1-Month Subcategory Return (%)	Top Subcategory Performer	Ticker	1-Month Fund Return (%)	Performance Rationale
U.S. Equity Fund	Large Cap Growth	3.01%	Zevenbergen Genea Institutional	ZVGIX	11.10%	The fund's largest holding is Amazon, Inc. (AMZN), which is up over 32% on a YTD basis.
International Equity	Europe Equities	3.97%	Columbia Acorn European Z	CAEZX	6.05%	The top holdings of the fund includes European companies such as Wirecard AG, which is up over 43% YTD.
Commodities	Broad Basket	-0.17%	Cohen & Steers Active Cmdts Strat C	CDFCX	0.55%	With commodities down for the year, this fund was protected by being invested in 96% cash as a hedge.
Taxable Bonds	Emerging-Markets Local-Currency Bond	1.64%	Barings Emerging Markets Local Ccy Dbt I	BXLIX	3.18%	International bond prices went up this week, with emerging markets seeing the most gains.
Municipal Bonds	High Yield Municipal Bonds	1.28%	Dreyfus High Yield Municipal Bond Y	DHYYX	2.17%	With muni yields declining, investors seem to prefer high-yield munis.

Performance Snapshot: Top Fund

Top-performing fund: T. Rowe Price Global Technology (PRGTX)

With over 68% in technology, the fund is this year’s best-performing fund. Its largest holding is in Salesforce.com (CRM), which is up more than 32% YTD.

Top 5 Performers

The following table provides the top-performing mutual funds on a YTD basis as of May 26, 2017. Only those funds that are rated five stars by Morningstar and that generated YTD returns greater than equal to that achieved by the S&P 500 are included.

Top-Performing Fund	Ticker	Category	YTD Return (%)	Net Expense Ratio (%)	% of Assets in Top 10 Holdings	Net Assets $ (Millions)	Top Sector Invested
T. Rowe Price Global Technology	PRGTX	Global Equities	30.69%	0.90%	54.60%	$4,370	Technology
Wasatch Emerging India Institutional	WIINX	India Equities	29.57%	2.00%	35.00%	$154	Financial Services
Morgan Stanley Inst Growth IS	MGRPX	Large Cap Growth Equities	29.16%	0.54%	56.90%	$3,510	Technology
Morgan Stanley Inst International Opp I	MIOIX	Foreign Large Cap Growth Equities	29.14%	1.34%	49.30%	$138	Technology
Morgan Stanley Inst Global Opp I	MGGIX	Global Equities	27.40%	1.07%	53.50%	$925	Technology