Rallying Stocks Generate Best Return of Quarter, Beating Bonds

Global stocks beat all other investments for a second quarter, the first back-to-back outperformance since 2009, as accelerating economic growth pushed equities past commodities, bonds and the dollar.

The MSCI All-Country World Index of equities in 45 markets climbed 6.6 percent including dividends in the first three months of 2013, as the Nikkei 225 Stock Average surged 20 percent and U.S. shares reached records. The Standard & Poor’s GSCI Total Return Index of 24 raw materials added 0.6 percent, while the Dollar Index climbed 4 percent and bonds of all types returned 0.6 percent as of March 31, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s Global Broad Market Index.