April brought many twists and turns for markets. In this video, Focus Partners’ Kevin Grogan breaks down a whirlwind month, including what led to the market swings and some key lessons for investors.
At the start of April, the Trump administration announced new tariffs, which led to a period of sharp market swings as the developments unfolded. Between April 3 and April 21, the S&P 500 declined 9%. On April 22, the administration signaled it would roll back some of the tariffs. Following that announcement, the S&P 500 was up 7% between April 22 and April 25. For the full month of April, the S&P 500 was down 1.5%, while developed international markets (as measured by the MSCI World Index) gained 3%. Both measures of market performance continued their trends so far this year despite the volatility that persisted earlier in the month. What can investors take away from April’s market responses? First, market moves can happen fast—often faster than we expect. Second, timing the market is incredibly difficult, especially when political headlines are in play. Politics can be just as unpredictable as the markets themselves, making it risky to base investment decisions on what might happen next.
If interested in a deeper dive on market performance to date in 2025, we encourage you watch the replay of our webinar, “Quarterly Perspectives: Tariffs, Inflation, and Market Trends.”
Sources: S&P 500 and MSCI World Index data.
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