July was a strong month for equity markets while fixed income markets were essentially unchanged. The S&P 500 added 3.2% led by Energy (7.4%), Communications (6.9%) and Financials (4.9%). The small cap Russell 2000 index gained 6.1% and Value (3.5%) and Growth (3.4%) ran roughly even. Yields on U.S. Treasuries nudged higher as the 10-Year Treasury rate rose to 3.97% from 3.81% and the 5-Year U.S. Treasury rate ended at 4.2% up from 4.1%. Bond indices were virtually unchanged with the Bloomberg Aggregate Bond Index declining 0.07%, Corporate bonds adding 0.34% and Muni bonds adding 0.40%.
