The XEQT Market Chronicle

XEQT is trading at $42.40, up a modest +0.17% on the week, sitting just 1% below its 52-week high of $42.84. The first half of the week drifted lower (Wednesday touched a low of $41.76), before a sharp +1.22% rally on Thursday erased three days of softness in a single session.

The week's defining event landed on Wednesday, when the Bank of Canada held its overnight rate at 2.25%, citing higher energy-driven inflation alongside a soft labour market and ongoing tariff drag. Governor Macklem warned that if oil prices remain elevated, "there may be a need for consecutive increases in the policy rate," while also acknowledging that new U.S. trade restrictions could force cuts. South of the border, the S&P 500 surged to a new all-time high of 7,272 on Friday, posting its best monthly gain since November 2020, fuelled by blowout earnings from Alphabet, Apple, and Amazon.

For the long-term XEQT holder, the picture is quietly encouraging. The fund's global diversification means it captures both the U.S. tech rally and the defensive tilt in Canadian equities, where analysts are rotating targets toward utilities and infrastructure names. A 1% drawdown from the 52-week high is not a buying signal or a warning: it is equilibrium.

The week's most instructive number: $41.76 to $42.57. That 1.9% intraweek range contained a rate decision, a geopolitical oil premium, and the biggest U.S. earnings week of the quarter. For a passive investor, the lesson is that volatility is the entrance fee, not the enemy.

XEQT is trading at $42.33, down 0.96% from last week's close. The sharpest move came Tuesday, when a 1.18% drop marked the week's low point at $41.84, though the fund has since steadied. With a drawdown of just 1.2% from its 52-week high of $42.84, the broader trend remains intact.

The macro backdrop is a tangle of crosscurrents. The U.S.-Iran standoff over the Strait of Hormuz kept Brent elevated, and Canadian producer prices spiked 2.4% month-over-month in March on surging energy and petroleum costs, raising the spectre of rate hikes rather than cuts. On Wednesday, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq hit fresh record closes after Trump extended the Iran ceasefire. Then Intel delivered a historic 24% single-day surge on Friday, its best since 1987, as Q1 earnings crushed expectations and the AI-driven CPU narrative broadened the semiconductor rally.

For the patient XEQT holder, the tension between geopolitics and earnings strength is precisely what diversification is designed to absorb. Canadian unemployment sits at 6.7%, the domestic economy is soft, and trade uncertainty lingers. But the S&P 500 is reporting its sixth consecutive quarter of double-digit earnings growth, with 84% of reporting companies beating estimates. The fund holds all of it: the weakness and the resilience together.

The week's most telling number is $42.33 itself. Despite a Middle Eastern conflict, oil above $89, and a soft Canadian labour market, XEQT sits barely one percent from an all-time high. That is what owning the whole market looks like over time.

XEQT is trading at $42.74, up +2.47% for the week so far and sitting just 0.2% below its 52-week high of $42.84, which it touched on Friday. The week began with a quiet Monday grind from $41.51, built steadily through midweek, then accelerated on Friday's +1.18% session as risk appetite surged globally.

The catalyst was unmistakable. On Friday, Iran's foreign minister declared the Strait of Hormuz open to commercial shipping under a Lebanon ceasefire, and crude oil plunged over 11% in a single session. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq both closed at all-time record highs, with U.S. equities returning roughly 4.55% for the week on a combination of easing geopolitical risk, a softer-than-expected PPI print, and strong early bank and tech earnings. Canadian equities followed, returning 1.93% as sentiment steadied.

For the long-term XEQT holder, this week is a case study in why selling into fear rarely works. The fund has now recovered from the Iran-driven drawdown that dominated March, climbing back from a 52-week low of $31.16 to whisper distance of a new all-time high. Diversification across four underlying index funds did what it was designed to do: absorb the shock, then participate in the recovery.

The single most instructive number this week: eleven trading days. That is how long it took the Nasdaq to swing from oversold to overbought, the fastest reversal in over four decades of data. Markets do not send calendar invitations before they turn.

XEQT is trading at $41.71, up +3.11% so far this week and sitting just 1.5% below its 52-week high of $42.36. The week's defining candle came on Wednesday: a +2.37% gap higher as ceasefire headlines landed overnight, followed by three sessions of quiet consolidation between $41.26 and $41.78. Tuesday's intraday low of $40.17 now looks like a different era.

The catalyst was unmistakable. President Trump announced a two-week ceasefire with Iran late Tuesday evening, and global markets erupted: the S&P 500 leapt 2.5% on Wednesday, the Dow posted its best single day since April 2025, and U.S. crude oil plunged 16.4% to $94.41 per barrel after trading as high as $117 the day before. The TSX rose on ceasefire hopes too, though Canadian energy names gave back gains as oil retreated from war-driven highs. Beneath the relief, March CPI showed headline inflation at 3.3% year-over-year, a reminder that even peace carries a price tag.

For the long-term XEQT holder, the week​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​​​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‍​​​​​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌‍‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌‌‌​​‌‌ is a textbook lesson in why staying invested matters more than staying informed. The biggest single-day move of the year so far arrived on a geopolitical headline that no one could have timed. XEQT's global diversification absorbed the oil shock through its Canadian energy tilt and captured the tech-led rebound through its U.S. allocation.

The single most instructive number: oil fell from $117 to $94 in one session, yet XEQT moved just $0.96. That is the quiet power of owning 9,000 stocks across 49 countries.

XEQT is trading at $40.45 as of Monday, up +3.82% from the prior week's close. The week opened softly, dipping to a low of $38.81 on Monday before a +2.8% surge on Tuesday carried the fund past $40 for the first time in days. Wednesday and Thursday held the gains, with the weekly high touching $40.60, leaving XEQT just 4.5% below its 52-week high of $42.36.

The catalyst was unmistakable: President Trump suggested the Iran war could end within two to three weeks, and markets responded with a broad relief rally. Oil briefly dropped below $99, and the S&P/TSX Composite recovered above 33,100 on Thursday after reports that Iran may allow some oil shipments from the Persian Gulf. But the optimism was fragile. Trump later signalled an escalation, bond yields climbed on stagflation fears, and the Bank of Canada's March deliberations (released Wednesday) revealed a central bank caught in a genuine dilemma: holding rates at 2.25% while inflation and weakness pull in opposite directions.

For the long-term XEQT holder, this week is a textbook study in noise. The fund holds over 9,000 stocks across 49 countries. No single geopolitical headline rewrites its trajectory. The S&P 500 finished Q1 down 4.6%, yet FactSet still forecasts 17% earnings growth for U.S. large caps this year. Fundamentals remain the floor beneath the volatility.

The week's most instructive number: $38.81 to $40.60. That is a 4.6% intraweek range driven entirely by headlines, not earnings. Markets closed Friday and Monday for the Easter long weekend. The price you pay matters less than the decades you hold.

XEQT is trading at $38.96 as of Friday, up 0.39% from last week's close but well off its midweek high of $40.12 reached Wednesday. The week traced an arc familiar to anyone watching geopolitical risk: a hopeful start (Monday gained 1.8%), a strong push higher through Wednesday, then a sharp reversal. Thursday's -1.82% drop was the biggest single-day decline of the week, and Friday extended the slide.

The cause sits in the Middle East. The S&P 500 posted its fifth consecutive weekly loss, its longest losing streak since 2022, falling roughly 2% as oil supply fears from the Iran war pushed crude near $97 and Treasury yields spiked. The Bank of Canada held its rate at 2.25% the prior week, acknowledging that rising energy prices will push inflation higher while the economy remains soft. Governor Macklem's dilemma is plain: rate hikes risk deepening weakness, rate cuts risk entrenching inflation.

For long-term XEQT holders, the current 8% drawdown from the 52-week high of $42.36 is uncomfortable but historically unremarkable. Canada's energy-heavy market showed relative strength through much of the week, with the TSX outperforming all three major U.S. indices on Friday. Diversification across geographies is doing its quiet work.

The week's most telling number: $40.12 to $38.87, a 3.1% intraweek range driven entirely by headlines, not fundamentals. This is what volatility looks like when geopolitics, not earnings, sets the price.