U.S. stocks closed out Q1 2019 with a positive March and notched the largest quarterly gains since 1998. The uptick was driven in part by growing consensus that the U.S. Federal Reserve will hold interest rates low due to concerns of slowing global economic growth and by some renewed optimism about U.S. – China trade talks. Valuations were also more attractive after the volatile market decline pared back stock prices in the final months of 2018. Domestic equities have recouped almost all of last year’s 4th quarter losses and prices have returned to more elevated levels. 

 

Both U.S. and global bond prices increased in the month of March, which appears to have been driven by some investors’ movements to safer assets due to global economic growth concerns and the general lack of inflation.  Uncertainty across the globe has continued, especially regarding Brexit negotiations, which garnered a lot of attention last month because of the inability of the U.K parliament to pass a Brexit agreement.