Quarterly Market Update

The Markets

If domestic equities hit the snooze button for the rest of 2013, they would still have had a pretty good record for the year. The Dow hit an all-time closing high in March, finally erasing all of its losses since October 2007, and the broader S&P 500 finally squeaked out its own new record close–by four points–on the last trading day of the quarter. The Nasdaq struggled with setbacks in the tech sector, while the small caps of the Russell 2000 continued to outpace the other three domestic indices. Despite a strong start for the quarter, the Global Dow suffered yet again from political uncertainties, record unemployment, and a contracting economy in Europe, as well as concerns about potentially slower growth in China.

As equities showed strength, U.S. Treasury yields nudged up over the quarter, while the dollar gained more than 4% against a basket of six foreign currencies. Despite spiking briefly in February, oil prices ended the quarter up only slightly at roughly $95 a barrel, while gold continued its six-month slide to end under $1,600 an ounce.

Equities data reflect price changes, not total return.