Quarterly Investment Update - 2nd Quarter 2018

Perkins Coie
Contact

Stock Market Commentary -

Domestic equity markets rebounded during the second quarter, bringing the year-to-date return into positive territory for the S&P 500, now up 2.6% YTD after gaining 3.4% for the quarter. Reports on year-over-year corporate profit growth, which exceeded 20% overall for S&P 500 companies, boosted markets early in the quarter. However, escalating trade tensions, jitters over rising interest rates and profit-taking pulled markets lower. $29 billion flowed out of equity mutual funds and exchange-traded funds in the last week of June. Money market funds and short-term fixed-income vehicles received net inflows during this period.

The Russell 1000 Growth index has soared 22.5% over the last year, more than three times the return of the Russell 2000 Value index, primarily driven by strength in Technology stocks. Energy stocks rallied 13.5% during the quarter as tighter global oil supply lifted oil prices. Financials and Industrials were the worst-performing sectors, each falling 3.2% as trade uncertainty pressured Industrial stocks and weak loan growth and flattening of the yield curve pushed bank stocks lower. Small cap stocks, shielded from tariffs and lifted by small business confidence, gained 8.3%. The Real Estate sector resumed strength as reflected in the DJ Wilshire REIT Index, which jumped 10%.

Please see full publication below for more information.

LOADING PDF: If there are any problems, click here to download the file.

DISCLAIMER: Because of the generality of this update, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based on particular situations.

© Perkins Coie | Attorney Advertising

Written by:

Perkins Coie
Contact
more
less

Perkins Coie on:

Reporters on Deadline

"My best business intelligence, in one easy email…"

Your first step to building a free, personalized, morning email brief covering pertinent authors and topics on JD Supra:
*By using the service, you signify your acceptance of JD Supra's Privacy Policy.
Custom Email Digest
- hide
- hide