FYI: For the eighth month in a row equity closed-end funds
(CEFs) witnessed a plus-side return on average, rising
0.84% on a net-asset-value (NAV) basis for June, while
for the first month in seven their fixed income CEF
cohorts posted a return in the red, declining however
only 0.01%.
•
For June 22% of all CEFs traded at a premium to
their NAV, with 20% of equity CEFs and 23% of fixed
income CEFs trading in premium territory. Thomson
Reuters Lipper’s municipal debt CEFs macro-group
witnessed the largest narrowing of discounts for the
month—49 basis points (bps) to 4.20%.
•
Utility CEFs (-1.35%) and Natural Resources CEFs
(-1.01%) posted the lowest returns in the equity
universe and weighed on the domestic equity CEFs
macro-group (+0.67%).
•
Despite the meltdown in big tech stocks, investors
focused on growth opportunities during the month,
pushing Growth CEFs to the top of the charts
(+8.08%) for the third month in four.
•
For the first month in seven none of Lipper’s municipal
debt CEF classifications posted returns in the black;
High Yield Municipal Debt CEFs (-0.01%) mitigated
losses better than the other classifications in the
group.
PERFORMANCE
For the eighth consecutive month equity CEFs on average witnessed a plus-side return
on a NAV basis and—for the seventh month in a row—on a market basis (+0.84% and
+0.70%, respectively). However, for the first month in seven their fixed income CEF
counterparts, declining just 0.01%, were in the red on a NAV basis, but for the third
consecutive month they posted a plus-side return on a market basis, returning 0.24%.
Most of the U.S. broad-based indices managed to finish the month on the plus-side,
despite a mini meltdown in large technology issues. The Russell 2000 Price Only Index
posted the strongest return (+0.80%), and the NASDAQ Composite Price Only Index
posted the only negative return (-0.49%).
Regards,
Ted
http://lipperalpha.financial.thomsonreuters.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/FMIR-US-CE-M-20170630-TR.pdf 
