Equity markets were generally weaker in April. In the US, the S&P 500 fell -4.2%, whilst the Nasdaq was down -4.4%. In the UK, the FTSE rose +2.4%. On the ASX, the All-Ordinaries Accumulation Index fell -2.7%. Gold was the top performing sector for the second month in a row, whilst real estate was the worst performer, which offset its strong performance in March.

The main driver of equity markets in the month was a change in thinking by investors around global monetary policy, which shifted from the next move being a rate cut, to in fact potentially another rate increase. This was due to inflation data released in the US on the 10th of April that showed higher than expected inflation. Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for March 2024 rose +0.4%, which was slightly higher than market expectations of +0.3%. Bond markets reacted to this news with higher yields. The US 10-year bond rate rose +42 basis points to 4.63%, whilst its Australian counterpart increased +46bp to 4.42%. The Australian dollar was flat, finishing the month at US$0.647.