June 2017 Market Insight

Resilience seems to be the keyword for the month of June. The month kicked off with stock markets reaching all-time highs, dropping down, and bouncing right back up to another new all-time high later in the month. Consistent with the pattern so far this year, US stocks, international stocks, and bonds continue to climb higher with strong momentum. We continue to watch the political headlines (pending US Healthcare vote, European Central Bank meeting, British elections) and the surprises they could have on the markets, both in the United States and abroad.

The month started with reports that the jobless rate hit the lowest level since 2001. Mid-month, the Federal Reserve raised interest rates 0.25%, with indications that they will do so again later this year. Fed Chair Janet Yellen commented, “The economy is doing very well, is showing resilience.” The Fed will begin shrinking its portfolio of bonds, a process that we will continue to watch going forward.

Closer to home, we have seen inflation slowly rising over the past few years, with increases in home prices, rent, car prices, airfares, healthcare and tuition.

If you have questions or would like to discuss your investment specifics, please contact us.

IndexJune 2017YTD 2017
S&P 500 Composite0.62%9.34%
Russell 20003.46%4.99%
MSCI World Ex-Us0.09%12.82%
Barclays US Aggregate Bond-0.10%2.27%
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