Monthly Market Update (April)
April marked a month where risk-on capital re-entered the market despite headlines still being dominated by the Iran war as investors increasingly came to terms with a future defined by heightened geopolitical conflicts and repositioned their capital for the new normal. Equity markets surged with the S&P 500 rising 10.4%, Nasdaq up 15.3%, Dow Jones up 7.1%. Globally, the MSCI Asia Pacific Ex Japan index rose 15.1%, while the MSCI Emerging Market gained 14.7%, largely driven by a rebound in capital inflows led by the tech sector as investors recalibrated their attention to the fundamental demand for AI hardware and services that remains even as the Iran war rages on. Evidently, investors have looked beyond geopolitical tension to consider other fundamental factors such as corporate earnings which led to a repricing of the stock market.