Big drop in April for many stock

Article Excerpt

Aggressive talk of further interest rate increases by the U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell contributed to the big drop for stock markets in April. Rising inflation is the main reason that the Fed plans to keep raising rates. Growth stocks, especially those with only remote prospects of near-term profits, came under considerable pressure. This was aptly demonstrated by the whopping 28.9% decline in April for the ARK Innovation ETF (symbol ARKK). This fund specializes in fast-growing companies that are considered “disruptive innovators.” However, even a tech-heavy, but broadly diversified, ETF such as the Invesco Nasdaq 100 ETF (QQQ) lost 13.6% in the month. Only a select few ETFs managed to generate a positive return for the month. The Invesco DB Commodities ETF (DBC), which holds a broad basket of commodities, returned 5.6%. Other ETFs that generated positive or only small negative returns include the SPDR Consumer Staples ETF (XLP), the BMO Equal Weighted Canadian Utilities ETF (ZUT), and the iShares Global Agriculture ETF (COW). At the broad market level, the Vanguard Total World Stocks ETF (VT)…