Please click the image below to view our April 2026 market calendar. This calendar includes the S&P 500’s historical average percentage change and average intraday chart pattern for each trading day during the upcoming month. It also includes market holidays and options expiration dates plus the dates of key economic indicator releases.Click here to view Bespoke’s premium membership options.
One year ago today after the markets closed on 4/2/25, President Trump made an appearance in the Rose Garden of the White House. At the event, which he labeled as “liberation day,” the President announced a slew of new reciprocal tariff rates on countries all around the globe. The tariff rates ranged from a baseline of 10% on all imports upwards of 100% on some specific countries such as China. Headed into the announcement, the S&P 500 had already fallen 7.7% versus its 2/29/25 high, but over the next several days, the index fell another 12.4% through the 4/8/25 low (for a total decline from February’s high to April’s low of 18.9%). While equity markets took a big hit last spring, the S&P 500 made a full recovery by June and are now up solidly over the past year.
Below we show our asset class performance matrix with total returns for a range of ETFs since liberation day.
The biggest winners have been in the commodity space. Silver (SLV) is up 114% and that is even after falling 38% from its January high. Oil (USO) has been the next best performer with a 73% gain.
As for equities, the S&P 500 (SPY) has provided a 17.3% total return in the past year. The small cap indices like the S&P Smallcap 600 (IJR) and Russell 2,000 (IWM) have outperformed with gains of 19.1% and 24.9%, respectively. While small caps have provided larger total returns than large caps, large cap growth (IVW) and small cap value (IJS) are up similar degrees.
International equity ETFs have broadly outperformed US indices with the likes of Brazil (EWZ), Mexico (EWW), and Israel (EIS) all up well over 50%. Only one country ETF is lower in the past year: India (INDA) with a 9.1% decline. Germany (EWG) and France (EWQ) are the only two other country ETFs in our matrix to underperform the S&P 500.
Moving back to look at the US, in the tables below we show the Russell 1,000 members that have provided the best and worst total returns over the past year. For the biggest winners, we have two 10-baggers in memory chip maker Sandisk (SNDK) and optical and photonic product maker Lumentum (LITE). SNDK is by far the biggest winner even of those two, up 1,353%. Not far behind SNDK and LITE are two more AI Infrastructure stocks: Western Digital (WDC) and Ciena (CIEN). Many of these top performing stocks are plays on AI buildouts, however, there are some other stocks from other parts of the market such as Warner Bros Discovery (WBD), GE Veranova (GEV), and Five Below (FIVE).
Turning over to the other end of the spectrum, the Russell 1,000 currently has 36 members that are down over 50% in the past year. Of those, the biggest loser is nutrition company BellRing Brands (BRBR), which has fallen close to 80%. Fintech firm Fiserv (FISV) and language learning company Duolingo (DUOL) are the only others down more than 70%.
Like this analysis? Join our premium members by starting a trial today! Click below for details on how to sign up:
Log-in here if you’re a member with access to the Closer.
See today’s full post-market Closer and everything else Bespoke publishes by starting a 14-day trial to Bespoke Institutional today!
An eventful first quarter is now in the books. In the table below, we show the total return for a range of ETFs across various parts of the equity market (both domestic and international) in addition to other asset classes.
Unsurprisingly, the single largest gain in Q1 came from oil as USO surged 84%. The next best returns were related to oil with the Energy sector (XLE) up 37.9% and broad commodities (DBC) gaining 29.5%. Elsewhere in commodities, gold (GLD) and silver (SLV), in addition to ags (DBA) all rose mid to high single digits. While gold was higher, “digital gold”, or Bitcoin (IBIT), had a rough quarter, falling 22.6%; the worst return of any asset in the matrix.
Turning to equities, the S&P 500 (SPY) fell 4.4%, but the equal weight version of the index (RSP) managed to gain 0.61%. Sector performance was mixed. Again, Energy saw a huge gain as did Materials (XLB), up 10.67%. Other more lightweight sectors like Consumer Staples (XLP), Industrials (XLI), and Real Estate (XLRE) were also higher.
On the downside, some of the more heavyweight areas like Tech (XLK), Consumer Discretionary (XLY), and Financials (XLF) all fell more than 7%. Large caps underperformed small and mid-caps and growth underperformed value. Internationally, most countries saw gains with the largest coming from Brazil (EWZ) as it gained over 20%. Meanwhile, India (INDA) fell the most with a 13.3% drop. China (MCHI), France (EWQ), Germany (EWG), and Italy (EWI) all fell in Q1 as well.
Looking at individual stocks, the Russell 1,000 had less than half of the index move higher in Q1 with the average stock falling 0.29%.
In the table below, we show the 25 top performers in the index during the quarter.
Memory stock Sandisk (SNDK) topped the list with a 194% gain as AI demand continues to bolster that industry. Another AI story that drove a 100%+ gain in Q1 was optical and photonic product manufacturer Lumentum (LITE), who also secured a $2 billion investment from NVIDIA (NVDA) in early March.
A similar name is Ciena (CIEN), which came in at the number four spot with a 78% gain. After the surge in energy prices in March, a number of Energy stocks also top the list like APA (APA), Texas Pacific (TPL), and T TechnipFMC (FTI). Fertilizer manufacturer CF Industries (CF) is also a major winner of the post conflict period, landing it in the best performers with a 32% gain.
Turning to the quarter’s biggest losers, there were three names that got cut in half: Atlassian (TEAM), Flutter Entertainment (FLUT), and Kyndryl (KD). Two of these are software stocks (TEAM, KD) in the crosshairs of the “AI Doom” trade where investors are worried about business obsolescence, while Flutter owns betting-app FanDuel and is now down 66% from all-time highs made last August.
Like this analysis? Join our premium members by starting a trial today! Click below for details on how to sign up: