The equity markets closed the month with their biggest gains for the year. The last time the S&P 500 gained more than 4.75% in a month was December 2003. The NASDAQ led the major US indexes in gains up almost 6% for the month. BAIDU.COM [BIDU  Loading...      ()   ] led the NASDAQ 100 gaining 53% for the month. With the exception of Consumer Staples, the S&P 500 sectors were all up for the month. Energy led the gains, as oil surged again. Chevron [CVX  Loading...      ()   ] and ExxonMobil [XOM  Loading...      ()   ] were amongst the Energy leaders.  Tied to the Nasdaq's gains was a big surge in Tech stocks as well. Financials also had a good month on signs that the worst of the credit crunch may be over.  Citigroup [C  Loading...      ()   ] was a big winner in the  Financial sector. Despite all the news on record Oil and Rice prices, Cocoa led the commodities charge this month rising 18%.  Amongst grains, Rough Rice is still up the most for the year. After setting record levels last week, Oil has pulled back a bit to end the month at $113.46 / bbl up 12% for the month. After nearly doubling in price last year, Wheat is down 14.5% for the month and 9.5% for the year. The Dollar gained against most major currencies on negative economic news in the Eurozone and expectations that the ECB would cut rates.

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