Mutual Funds Weekly Roundup: July 26

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 and international equities were mostly up this week.

• The best-performing fund for 2018 on a year-to-date basis is Leland Thomson Reuters Vntr Cptl Idx I (LDVIX).

• Latin America Equities 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 industry.

Market Wrap-Up

U.S. Equities – U.S. equity markets were mostly up for the week, with the exception of the NASDAQ. The Dow Jones Industrial Average moved up by 0.15% to close at 25,058. The Dow is now up 1.37% on a year-to-date basis. The S&P 500 gained 0.02% for the week to close at 2,802 and is up 4.80% year-to-date. The NASDAQ Composite decreased 0.07% to close at 7,820. NASDAQ is still the best-performing index among major indices on a year-to-date basis and is up 13.28%.

The best-performing sector was financials, up 2.24% for the week, although, on a year-to-date basis, the sector is still down 0.42%. This sector consists of companies like Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC), which was up 3.26% for the week.

International Equities – The international markets were mostly up this week, with the exception of the MSCI Emerging Markets. The MSCI Developed Market Index gained 0.63% to close at 1,985. The MSCI Emerging Market Index dropped 0.44% to close at 1,070. Finally, Japan’s Nikkei 225 saw a gain of 0.44%, to close at 22,698.

Commodities – The commodities markets were all down again this week, with crude oil falling $0.55 per barrel to close at $70.46. The price of gold decreased by $10 per troy ounce to close at $1,230. Meanwhile, copper prices saw a decrease of $0.02 and now stands at $2.76.

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

Taxable Bonds – Treasury yields were mostly up this week. The 2-year Treasury increased by 1 bps to now yield 2.59%. The 10-year Treasury increased 6 bps and now yields 2.89%. The 30-year Treasury increased by 10 bps and now yields 3.03%.

Municipal Bonds – Municipal yields were mostly up this week, with the exception of the 2-year AAA-rated bonds that fell 4 bps to now yield 1.58%. The 10-year AAA-rated bonds saw an increase of 1 bps, while the 30-year AAA-rated bonds increased by 1 bps, to now yield 2.98%. Municipal bond fund flows saw its second week of inflows, with an increase of $1.184 billion in assets under management. The largest credit spread for the two-year securities increased to 101 bps for the week.

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

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 July 20, 2018.

Performance Snapshot: Top Fund

Top-performing fund: Leland Thomson Reuters Vntr Cptl Idx I (LDVIX)

One of the fund’s largest holdings is Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX), which is still up over 88% on a year-to-date basis.

Top Five Performers

The following table provides the top-performing mutual funds on a YTD basis as of July 20, 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.