April 2022 in Figures
April 29, 2022
The medium-term outlook for the U.S. economy soured progressively during the past month. The Federal Reserve signaled that it had no choice but to embark on an aggressive tightening of its policy, and investors worried that containing inflation from its current multi-decade high could not be possible unless the economy endures a period of recession. The ten-year U.S. treasury yield rose more than a half percentage point for a second straight month. That was more than 10-year sovereign debt assets in Germany and the U.K.. Canada’s yield moved closely in tandem with the U.S. lead, while Japan’s barely changed. These diverse movements helped power a strong advance in the dollar, which measured by the weighted DXY index touched a 19-year high late in the month.
While equities perform well in April more years than not, 2022 proved a dramatic exception, and the usually high-flying tech sector bore the brunt of the selling pressure. The Nasdaq index plunged 13.3%, experiencing its worst monthly rout since October 2008. On the final business day of April, Amazon, Netflix Microsoft, Apple and Meta share prices tumbled 14.1%, 4.6%, 4.2%, 3.7%, and 2.6%. EU and Japanese equities did not drop as sharply as the U.S. market, but the British Ftse proved a haven from the maelstrom.
With the dollar being well-bid against other currencies, some decline in the price of gold was to be expected, and the price of Bitcoin tumbled nearly 3% today and over 18% for the month. The price of oil (up 4.3%) was subjected to a mix of countervailing forces. Demand for fossil fuels was dampened by weaker Chinese growth, while supply was augmented by the release of emergency reserves, but also constrained by the war in Ukraine.
| 10-Yr Yield | 03/31/22 | 04/29/22 | April Change |
| U.S. | 2.39% | 2.91% | +52 Basis Points |
| Germany | 0.54% | 0.94% | +40 |
| Japan | 0.20% | 0.21% | +1 |
| U.K. | 1.61% | 1.90% | +29 |
| Canada | 2.40% | 2.87% | +47 |
| Switzerland | 0.54% | 0.81% | +27 |
| CB Policy Rate | 03/31/22 | 04/29/22 | April Change |
| Fed funds target | 0.25/0.50% | 0.25/0.50% | 0 Basis Points |
| ECB deposit rate | -0.50% | -0.50% | 0 |
| BOJ policy rate | -0.10% | -0.10% | 0 |
| BOE Bank Rate | 0.75% | 0.75% | 0 |
| Swiss 3M Libor | -0.75% | -0.75% | 0 |
| FX | 03/31/22 | 04/29/22 | April Chg in $ |
| EUR/USD | 1.1067 | 1.0548 | +4.9% |
| USD/JPY | 121.67 | 129.77 | +6.7% |
| USD/CHF | 0.9231 | 0.9732 | +5.4% |
| GBP/USD | 1.3135 | 1.2372 | +6.2% |
| AUD/USD | 0.7481 | 0.7063 | +5.9% |
| NZD/USD | 0.6949 | 0.6455 | +7.7% |
| USD/CAD | 1.2502 | 1.2851 | 2.8% |
| USD/CNY | 6.3400 | 6.6085 | +4.2% |
| Equities | 03/31/22 | 04/29/22 | April Change |
| S&P 500 | 4530 | 4132 | -8.8% |
| Nasdaq | 14221 | 12335 | -13.3% |
| Djia | 34678 | 32977 | -3.3% |
| Dax | 14581 | 14096 | -3.3% |
| Nikkei | 27821 | 26848 | -3.5% |
| Ftse | 7567 | 7545 | -0.3% |
| Canada TSE | 21890 | 20841 | -4.8% |
| Swiss SMI | 12260 | 12129 | -1.1% |
| Commodities | 03/31/22 | 04/29/22 | April Change |
| Oil, $ per barrel | 100.35 | 104.69 | +4.3% |
| Gold, $ per ounce | 1937.44 | 1911.70 | -1.3% |
Copyright Larry Greenberg 2022. All rights reserved. No secondary distribution without express permission.
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