Thanks in part to a March 31 rally, the S&P 500 managed to gain 0.69% last month. Comments from Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen alternately startled and soothed investors; events in the Ukraine didn’t send U.S. stocks markedly lower, though they certainly held back European benchmarks. In the commodities markets, crop futures continued rising while energy futures and metals mostly descended. Analysts wondered if the softness in the housing market was seasonal or more entrenched. As the bull market celebrated its fifth birthday, investors mulled how long it would continue.