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The stock market continued to work higher in April despite some volatility towards month end. Canadian stocks rose by another 2.2% to push their ‘globe leading’ gain for the year to almost 10%. U.S. stocks also pushed higher, driven by strength in the cyclical and transportation sectors and supported by snapback rallies in the big technology stocks. European stocks also added to their gains despite some weakness in the headline economic numbers due to the renewed shutdowns in the major EC economies. Better vaccinations and more re-openings helped the French and British markets buck the European softness with those markets each gaining over 3%. In Asia there was some weakness as a slowing recovery in China, softer Japanese results and record new levels of Covid infections in India muted the gains in those markets. Rising yields pushed bond prices lower again in April, after registering their worst quarter in decades to start the year. Surging growth in the U.S. and some worries about inflation risks have taken the shine off the fixed income market this year. Commodities were the big winners in April, though, as copper and lumber surged to record highs on economic re-opening, oil markets showed renewed strength on continued supply restraint and the U.S. dollar rally once again lost some momentum, providing a tailwind for commodities. (more…)