The month of April was more or less a wash for equities and stock exchange traded funds as the market ends the month on a down note after a spate of earnings misses.

Over April, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.6%, the Nasdaq Composite dropped 1.4% and the S&P 500 dipped 0.3%.

The best performing non-leveraged ETFs for the past month include the PureFunds ISE Junior Silver ETF (SILJ) up 49.5%, Global X Gold Explorers ETF (GLDX) up 46.7% and iShares MSCI Global Silver Miners Fund ETF (SLVP) up 34.9%.

The precious metals miners rallied as gold prices jumped to a 15-month high. Gold prices were strengthening on the weaker USD – a cheaper dollar makes gold more attractive to foreign investors and helps support the hard asset as a more stable store of wealth. The USD was weakening after the Bank of Japan surprised markets by keeping its monetary policy on hold, which sent the Japanese yen rallying.

On the other end, the worst non-leveraged exchange traded products of the past month include the AccuShares Spot CBOE VIX Up Shares (VXUP) down 17.0%, C-Tracks on Citi Volatility Index ETN (CVOL) down 14.3% and ProShares VIX Short-Term Futures ETF (VIXY) down 9.4%.

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April was coming off a strong first quarter, with improving economic data and employment growth supporting markets, but was stuck in sideways trading as mixed news weighed on equities.

The markets, though, bounced higher in mid-April on speculation that Russia and Suadi Arabia would cooperate in a production freeze, but the plans eventually fell through.

Weakening economic data, including lower sales and declining consumer sentiment, also kept a lid on market gains.

Toward the end of April, earnings disappointments pressured the stock market. Moreover, traders remained wary as the Federal Reserve kept rate steady in light of soft economic growth.

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