S&P 500 falls 0.8% in April as US stock declines narrow

A US stock market sell-off extended to a third consecutive month in April, though the major equity indexes pared back their March declines.

The S&P 500 slipped 0.8%, a much smaller decline than the large-cap index's 5.8% tumble in March, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and small-cap Russell 2000 also posted narrower declines in April, falling 3.2% and 2.4%, respectively.

Stock market volatility spiked in April following President Donald Trump's announcement of global tariffs, followed by a pause enacted a few days later and subsequent trade announcements from the White House.

Sectors

Five of the S&P 500's 11 sectors rose in April, led by information technology stocks, which gained 1.6%. Within the IT sector, 37 of 69 stocks rose, with the largest gains recorded by Palantir Technologies Inc. and CrowdStrike Holdings Inc.

Utilities stocks posted the smallest rise of the sectors that gained during the month, with a less than 0.05% increase.

Energy stocks performed the worst among S&P 500 sectors in April, falling 13.7%. None of the energy sector's 23 S&P 500 constituent stocks rose during the month.

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Largest gains, drops

Palantir was the best-performing S&P 500 stock in April with its 40.3% gain. The company benefitted from new contracts announced during the month as government agencies sought to use its AI technology in defense, security and immigration applications, according to Dow Jones Newswires.

Enphase Energy Inc., meanwhile, fell the most of any S&P 500 stock in April, losing 28.1%. The solar company's first-quarter earnings fell short of analysts' estimates, according to Market Intelligence data.