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Mutual Funds Weekly Roundup: June 22

Brian Mathews Jun 22, 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.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) again hit a new all-time high, closing at 21,384.

The best-performing fund so far for 2017 is the Wasatch Emerging India Institutional (WIINX).

Government bonds are 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 were a mixed bag this week, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average increasing 0.53% to close at a new high of 21,384. The DJIA is also up 8.21% year-to-date. The S&P 500 had a slight increase of 0.06% for the week, closing at 2,433. Among the major indices, the NASDAQ Composite Index was this week’s worst performer, dropping 0.90% to close at 6,152. However, the NASDAQ is still the best-performing major index, up 14.28% year-to-date.

The industrials sector was this week’s top-performing area, up 1.74%, and up 10.66% on a year-to-date basis. This was led by companies like 3M Co. (MMM) and Boeing Co. (BA), which are both up 7.09% and 8.89% over the last one month, respectively.

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

International Equities – International markets were mostly down for the week, with the exception of the MSCI Developed Index that had a slight increase of 0.03%. The MSCI Emerging Index had a larger decline of 1.41% for the week. Japan’s NIKKEI 225 had a decline again this week and is down 0.35% to close at 19,943.

Commodities – The commodity sector was also down across the board. Crude oil decreased $1.09 per barrel and closed at $44.74 per barrel. The price of gold decreased $15 per troy ounce to close at $1,254. Copper was also down for the week, declining $0.09 to close at $2.56.

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

Taxable Bonds – Treasury yields dropped this week, as the Fed raised rates 25 bps. The 2-year Treasury dropped 1 bps and the 10-year Treasury dropped 5 bps. The 30-year Treasury yield decreased 8 bps to 2.78%.

Municipal Bonds – Municipals remained relatively flat this week. The 2-year AAA-rated bonds increased 1 bps; the 10-year AAA-rated bonds decreased 1 bps, while the 30-year AAA-rated bonds remained unchanged. Municipal bond funds had its second week of inflows with $310 million. The largest credit spread among Treasury and muni bonds tightened to 50 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 June 16, 2017.

Category	Top Subcategory	1-Month Subcategory Return (%)	Top Subcategory Performer	Ticker	1-Month Fund Return (%)	Performance Rationale
U.S. Equity Fund	Large Cap Value	1.34%	Wells Fargo C&B Large Cap Value Admin	CBLLX	3.81%	The fund's largest holding is Abbott Laboratories (ABT), which is up over 25% on a YTD basis.
International Equity	Japan Equities	2.20%	Hennessy Japan Institutional	HJPIX	3.67%	The fund invests in Japanese companies, with its largest holding in Keyence Corp NPV (KYCCF), which is up over 28% YTD.
Commodities	Broad Basket	-3.11%	Catalyst Hedged Commodity Strategy A	CFHAX	0.64%	This fund was invested in short-term treasuries and has remained stable, while oil prices dropped.
Taxable Bonds	Government Bonds	3.88%	Vanguard Extended Duration Trs Idx Instl	VEDTX	6.25%	Bonds with longer maturities are increasing more in value than shorter-term bonds.
Municipal Bonds	Single State Municipal Bonds	1.40%	Nuveen CA High Yield Municipal Bond I	NCHRX	2.26%	With muni yields remaining relatively flat, California muni bond funds showed slight gains.

Performance Snapshot: Top Fund

Top-performing fund: Wasatch Emerging India Institutional (WIINX)

The fund’s largest holding is in Housing Development Finance Corp Ltd (NSE:HDFC), which is up over 29% on a year-to-date basis.

Top 5 Performers

The following table provides the top-performing mutual funds on a YTD basis as of June 16, 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
Wasatch Emerging India Institutional	WIINX	India Equities	34.88%	2.00%	35.00%	$182	Financial Services
Morgan Stanley Inst International Opp I	MIOIX	Foreign Large Cap Growth Equities	29.20%	1.34%	50.50%	$196	Consumer Defense
Baron Partners Institutional	BPTIX	Mid Cap Growth Equities	28.75%	1.52%	97.60%	$1,990	Consumer Cyclical
T. Rowe Price Global Technology	PRGTX	Global Equities	28.67%	0.90%	54.60%	$4,890	Technology
Transamerica Capital Growth I	TFOIX	Large Cap Growth Equities	28.56%	0.94%	57.80%	$756	Technology