The start of 2020 continued the trend of 2019, with the S&P 500 rising 4% before hitting an all-time high on February 19. From there, the index fell sharply as investors responded to the reality that COVID-19 would cause the world’s economy to slow and corporate earnings would be challenged. The rapid decline officially ended the 10+ year bull market in U.S. stocks. This transition, which typically takes around 10 months, occurred in just 16 trading days.

The Technology sector performed the best in Q1, down 12%, as many of these companies’ revenues were less impacted by the move toward remote working and social distancing. The Energy sector was again the worst performing, down 51%, on the rapid decline in oil prices. Given the imbalance between oil supply and demand, energy companies face significant headwinds for the foreseeable future. Other regions were not spared and both emerging market and developed international stocks were down for the quarter, 24% and 23%, respectively.