Seasonality effects and anomalies that are seen in April

 

The latest edition of Stephen Eckett’s fascinating reference book may have you scratching your head in search of a rational explanation for what is presented, but one thing is for sure, you’ll return to it again and again as 2019 unfolds.

Historically, April has been one of the best months for equities. Since 1970 the average return for the FTSE All-Share Index in the month has been 2.6%, with positive returns seen in 83% of Aprils in the last 47 years.

This is the best record, by quite a margin, for any month in the year. And the strong performance has continued in recent years. Since 2000 the average month return for the index has been 2.0% and, as can be seen in the accompanying chart, the market has only fallen in April in five years since 2000.

 

almanac 0418 2

 

The average April

 

The market often gets off to a strong start in the month – the first trading day of April is the second strongest first trading day of all months in the year. The market then tends to be fairly flat for the middle two weeks and then rising strongly in the final week.

Investors need to make the most of April. After this month the market enters a six-month period when equities have tended to tread water (the Sell in May effect).

 

Sectors

 

The FTSE 350 sectors that tend to be strong in April are: Electronic & Electrical Equipment, Industrial Engineering, and Personal Goods; while the weaker sectors are Household Goods, Mining, Mobile Telecommunications, and Software & Computer Services.

 

Stocks

 

At the stock level, the four FTSE 350 with the best Aril returns over the past ten years are: JD Sports Fashion [JD.], Ashmore Group [ASHM], Aberdeen Asset Management [ADN], and Temple Bar Investment Trust. The shares of all four of these companies have risen every year in April since 2007. The FTSE 350 stocks with the weakest record in April have been: Balfour Beatty [BBY], RELX [REL], and BAE Systems [BA.].

 

FTSE 100 v S&P 500

 

This is the strongest month for the FTSE 100 relative to the S&P 500 (in sterling terms), the former out-performs the latter by an average of 1.3 percentage points in April ­ the UK index has out-performed the US index (in sterling terms) in April in 13 of the past 15 years.

 

Holiday Effect

 

It’s Easter on the 21st so the LSE will be closed on the 19th (Good Friday) and 22nd (Easter Monday). A famous anomaly in stock markets is that prices tend to be strong on the day preceding and the day following a holiday. This effect is strongest in the year around the Easter holiday.

 

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