Both equity and fixed-income markets fell in August. The S&P 500 fell -1.6% as all sectors were down except for Energy, which rose 1.8%. Utilities fell the most (-6.2%), followed by Consumer Staples (-3.6%), Materials (-3.3%), and Real Estate (-3.0%). The Small-cap Russell 2000 index fell -5.0%. Yields on U.S. 10-year Treasuries rose for the fourth straight month reaching 4.1%, though mid-month levels reached 4.36%. The 5-year U.S. treasury rose towards 4.5% before retreating to 4.2% by month end. Within fixed-income markets, the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index fell for the fourth month in a row (-0.6%), U.S. Corporate HY Bonds rose 0.3%, and Municipal bonds fell -1.4%.
