MARKET OUTLOOK - THIRD QUARTER 2019
Posted
on Wednesday, July 10, 2019
in
Financial Education
Market Outlook - 3rd Quarter 2019
The U.S. equity market settled down in the second quarter of 2019 after several months of wild swings. In 2018’s second half, the S&P 500 benchmark flirted with bear-market territory. Dragged down by big losses in energy and other economically sensitive stocks, it fell 19.4% between September 21 and December 24. Then in the first quarter of 2019, the market snapped back sharply, as the S&P 500 gained 14% and many of the same stocks posted the biggest gains. For the most part things have been much calmer over the past three months, with the S&P 500 gaining 3.7% from April 1 through June 27, and the other market indexes having similarly modest returns.
International equity funds encountered a much different investment climate in the second quarter of 2019 than in the first. After calming in the first quarter, macroeconomic and geopolitical risks increased, raising tension and volatility in the markets. Still, the end results were middling at worst. The MSCI ACWI ex-USA Index rose 3.0% in U.S. dollar terms for the quarter and was up 13.6% for the year. U.S. equities continued outperforming international equities.