By 
The Bottom Line:
Chinese stocks are waking up. Energy and Agriculture still lead the way in commodities. The dollar reigns supreme. Warren suffers, Cathie even more so.
Each market behaves differently. Chinese stocks rallied 10% last week, confirming their strong correlation with Beijing's political posturing. The local politburo has hinted that it is ready to support the economy, which has been undermined by Covid restrictions. At almost the same time, there were rumors that Chinese-US talks on harmonizing accounting rules were progressing well, paving the way for Chinese companies to continue to be listed on Wall Street. Europe held up very well, while the US fell back, led by the Nasdaq and its technology stocks
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Focus this week on the major sectoral trends of April. Technology, consumer discretionary and, most strangely, telecoms are at the bottom of the pack, with declines of between 7 and 10%. The two favorite sectors for investors right now are energy, still boosted by inflation. And the consumer staples sector, which is benefiting from the transfer of flows to the more defensive segments of the market
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On the commodities side, performance was again mixed. Energy and agriculture continued to rise over the month. Both segments continue to benefit from the tensions resulting from the Ukrainian crisis. Precious metals are not benefiting from the current turmoil, as gold is once again trading below USD 1,900 per ounce
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The same is true for the month of April. The dollar still reigns supreme, both against the yen and the euro. The single currency, on the other hand, was little changed in the end against the Swiss franc and the British pound.
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Let's conclude with a contest between Warren Buffett and Cathie Wood, two rather opposite visions of investment. The ARK Innovation fund, which is very growth-oriented, lost -30% in April, compared to the more value-oriented Berkshire Hathaway holding, which lost about -9%.
