April 2026 Monthly Market Review

An excerpt from our April 2026 Monthly Market Review:

War sent global equity markets tumbling in March. Hopes for peace sparked a sharp rebound in April. Strong earnings growth, especially among AI giants, also contributed to April’s rally. Reflecting the dominance of AI-related firms, U.S., South Korean and Taiwanese equity markets performed especially well. Crude oil prices also soared in April, the supply of key distillates became increasingly tight, and their prices rose, sapping the purchasing power of households and firms around the world. Faced with a commodity supply shock of uncertain depth and duration, major central banks – including the Fed, the BoE, the BoJ, and the ECB – kept their policy rates unchanged in April, despite rising inflation and inflation expectations. The U.S. Treasury yield curve steepened as short-term yields were little changed while longer term yields rose. Since the beginning of the year, expectations for Fed rate cuts have fallen. Futures markets now attach a 75% probability to no change in rates this year. The U.S. dollar depreciated.