Mutual Funds Weekly Roundup: April 12

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. equities saw declines this week.

• The best-performing fund for 2018 on a year-to-date basis is Copley (COPLX).

• 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 declines this week, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling by 0.71% to close at 23,933 and is now down 3.18% on a year-to-date basis. The S&P 500 also had a decline of 1.38% for the week to close at 2,604, and is down 2.59% year-to-date. The NASDAQ Composite decreased 2.10% to close at 6.915. The NASDAQ is the best-performing index among major indices on a year-to-date basis and is up 0.17%.

With every sector down this week, the best-performing sector was energy, down only 0.10%. This sector consists of companies like Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE:XOM), which was up 2.25% for the week.

International Equities – The international markets were mixed this week, with the MSCI Developed Market Index up 0.67% to close at 2,013. The MSCI Emerging Market Index had a decrease of 0.59% to close at 1,162. Japan’s Nikkei 225 also saw an increase this week of 1.93% to close at 21,568.

Commodities – The commodities markets were all up this week, with the exception of crude oil, which fell by $2.88 per barrel to close at $62.06. The price of gold increased by $9 per troy ounce to close at $1,332. Copper prices also increased by $0.03 to close at $3.06.

Taxable Bonds – Treasury yields were all up this week, with the exception of the 2-year Treasury, which remained unchanged and is now yielding 2.27%. The 10-year Treasury yield gained by 3 bps and now yields 2.77%. The 30-year Treasury increased by 5 bps and now yields 3.02%.

Municipal Bonds – Municipal yields were mixed this week, with the 2-year AAA-rated bonds increasing by 5 bps to yield 1.73%. The 10-year AAA-rated bonds saw a decrease of 2 bps, while the 30-year AAA-rated bonds remained unchanged and yields 3.01%. Municipal bond funds saw outflows of $273 million this week, after four consecutive weeks of inflows. The largest credit spread for the two-year securities decreased to 54 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 April 6, 2018.

Top-performing fund: Copley (COPLX).

One of the the fund’s largest holdings is NextEra Energy Inc (NYSE:NEE), which is up 3.80% on a year-to-date basis.

Top 5 Performers

The following table provides the top-performing mutual funds on a YTD basis as of April 6, 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.