Mutual Funds Weekly Roundup: October 19

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. and international equities were all up this week, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and NASDAQ Composite hitting all-time highs again.

• The best-performing fund so far for 2017 continues to be the Neuberger Berman Greater China Eq Instl (NCEIX).

• U.S. small value equities is the best-performing mutual funds subcategory based on the rolling month.

• Make sure to check out the previous edition of the Weekly Roundup to keep track of changing trends in the mutual funds space.

U.S. Equities – U.S. equity markets continued to gain this week, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased 0.43% to close at an all-time high of 22,872. The S&P 500 also had an increase of 0.15% for the week, closing at a new high of 2,553. The NASDAQ Composite Index was also up 0.24%, to close at a new high of 6,606. The NASDAQ is the best-performing major U.S. index on a year-to-date basis, up 22.71%.

The real estate sector was this week’s top-performing area, up 1.77%. The sector is composed of real estate companies and REITs like Simon Property Group Inc. (NYSE:SPG), which was up 2.84% for the week and has a current yield of 4.35%.

Explore our Mutual Funds Education section to learn more about important mutual funds concepts.

International Equities – International markets were also up for the week, with the MSCI Developed Index gaining 1.63% to close at 2,004. The MSCI Emerging Index had an increase of 2.08% for the week and remains the best-performing index on a year-to-date basis, up 33.42%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 had its fifth week of gains in a row, up 2.24%, to close at 21,155.

Commodities – The commodity sector was mostly up this week, with crude oil rebounding to gain $2.16 per barrel and closed at $51.45 per barrel. The price of gold increased $30 per troy ounce, to close at $1,302. Copper saw an increase of $0.10, to close at $3.13.

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

Taxable Bonds – Treasury yields all fell this week, except for the 2-year Treasury, which increased 1 bps to yield 1.51%. The 10-year Treasury yield decreased 7 bps, while the 30-year Treasury yield decreased 7 bps to 2.82%.

Municipal Bonds – Municipal yields declined across all maturities this week. The 2-year AAA-rated bonds saw a decrease of 1 bps to yield 1.03%. The 10-year AAA-rated bonds decreased 5 bps, while the 30-year AAA-rated bonds decreased 7 bps and now yield 2.83%. Municipal bond funds saw outflows of $60 million, a continuation of last week’s outflows of $212 million. The largest credit spread for the five-year securities decreased by 1 bps to settle at 55 bps for the week.

The following table provides a list of the top-performing mutual funds 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 October 13, 2017.

Top-performing fund: Neuberger Berman Greater China Eq Instl (NCEIX)

The fund’s largest holding is in Tencent Holdings Ltd (HKG:0700), which is up over 87% on a year-to-date basis.

Top-Five Performers

The following table provides the top-performing mutual funds on a YTD basis as of October 13, 2017. Only those funds that are rated five stars by Morningstar and that generated YTD returns greater than or equal to 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.