• U.S. and international equities saw major declines this week.

• The best-performing fund for 2018 on a year-to-date basis is the PRIMECAP Odyssey Aggressive Growth (POAGX).

• Long Government Taxable Bonds is the best-performing mutual funds subcategory based on rolling-month returns.

• 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 all saw large declines this week, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling by 5.67% to close at 23,533 and now down 4.80% on a year-to-date basis. The S&P 500 also had a decline of 5.95% for the week to close at 2,588, and is down 3.19% year-to-date. The NASDAQ Composite decreased 6.54% to close at 6.993. The NASDAQ is the best-performing index among major indices on a year-to-date basis and is up 1.29%.

This week’s best-performing sector was energy, down only 0.92%. This sector consists of companies like Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE:XOM), which was down 0.20% for the week.

International Equities –The international markets were also down big this week, with the MSCI Developed Market Index falling 2.57% to close at 1,990. The MSCI Emerging Market Index had a decrease of 3.35% to close at 1,172. Japan’s Nikkei 225 also saw a decrease this week of 4.88% to close at 20,618.

Commodities – The commodities markets were all up this week, with the exception of copper. Crude oil increased by $3.54 per barrel to close at $65.88. The price of gold increased by $38 per troy ounce to close at $1,349. On the contrary, copper prices decreased by $0.11 to close at $2.99.

Taxable Bonds – Treasury yields were all down this week, with the the 2-year Treasury falling by 5 bps and now yielding 2.25%. The 10-year Treasury yield fell by 4 bps and now yields 2.81%. The 30-year Treasury decreased by 2 bps and now yields 3.06%.

Municipal Bonds – Municipal yields moved up this week, with the exception of the 30-year AAA-rated bonds. The 2-year AAA-rated bonds increased by 9 bps to yield 1.67%. The 10-year AAA-rated bonds saw an increase of 2 bps, while the 30-year AAA-rated bonds decreased by 2 bps to yield 3.07%. Municipal bond funds saw inflows of $405 million this week, marking the third consecutive week of net inflows. The largest credit spread for the two-year securities decreased to 58 bps for the week.

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

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

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 March 23, 2018.

Top-performing fund: PRIMECAP Odyssey Aggressive Growth (POAGX).

One of the the fund’s largest holdings is Nektar Therapeutics Inc. (NAS: NKTR), which is up over 72% on a year-to-date basis.

Top 5 Performers

The following table provides the top-performing mutual funds on a YTD basis as of March 23, 2018. 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.