Last year was certainly a good one for the markets, with the Dow Jones up 26.5% and the NASDAQ's 38.32% boost. Overseas, Japan's Nikkei 225 price-only index posted a 38.81% return.
As Lipper reported at year end, equity funds posted their sixth-consecutive quarter of positive returns, despite the Federal Reserve's tapering announcement, in the fourth quarter. During the period, equity funds improved 7.08% on average, and 85 of Lipper's 95 equity and mixed-equity fund classifications posted positive returns.
U.S. diversified equity funds rose 8.76% in the fourth quarter, while world equity funds improved 5.55%. Mixed-asset funds rose 4.57%, and sector equity funds gained 3.40%. On the down side, precious-metals equity funds dropped 13.90%), dedicated short-bias funds declined 12.36%, and commodities/precious-metals funds sank 7.98%.
Though they had negative returns for the year (–11.08%), India Region Funds soared by 13.66% in the final three months of 2013. European region funds recorded gains of 8.31% in the fourth quarter.
