• Both U.S. and international equities all bounced back this week.

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

• Broad basket commodities 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 bounced back from last week’s declines, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average increasing by 1.79% to close at 24,360 and is now down 1.45% on a year-to-date basis. The S&P 500 also had a gain of 1.99% for the week to close at 2,656, and is down 0.65% year-to-date. The NASDAQ Composite increased 2.77% to close at 7,107. The NASDAQ is the best-performing index among major indices on a year-to-date basis and is up 2.94%.

The best-performing sector was energy for the second week in a row, up 6.03%. This sector consists of companies like Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE:XOM), which was up 4.90% for the week.

International Equities – The international markets were also up this week, with the MSCI Developed Market Index up 1.49% to close at 2,042. The MSCI Emerging Market Index had a gain of 0.74% to close at 1,170. Japan’s Nikkei 225 also saw an increase this week of 0.98% to close at 21,779.

Commodities – The commodities markets were all up this week, with crude oil seeing a large gain of $5.33 per barrel to close at $67.39. The price of gold increased by $13 per troy ounce to close at $1,345. Copper prices also increased slightly by $0.01 to close at $3.07.

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

Taxable Bonds – Treasury yields were all up again this week, with the 2-year Treasury increasing by 10 bps and is now yielding 2.37%. The 10-year Treasury yield gained by 7 bps and now yields 2.84%. The 30-year Treasury increased by 2 bps and now yields 3.04%.

Municipal Bonds – Municipal yields were mostly down this week, with the exception of the 2-year AAA-rated bonds that increased by 3 bps to yield 1.76%. The 10-year AAA-rated bonds saw a decrease of 4 bps, while the 30-year AAA-rated bonds dropped 2 bps and yields 2.99%. Municipal bond funds saw outflows of $372 million this week, making this the second week of outflows in a row. The largest credit spread for the two-year securities increased to 61 bps for the week.

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

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 13, 2018.

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

One of the fund’s largest holdings is Adobe Systems Inc. (NASDAQ:ADBE), which is up over 29% 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 13, 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.