April 2025 has been one of the most volatile months for the ASX share market in a while. Just look at the chart below of the iShares S&P 500 ETF (ASX: IVV) – it ended the month down just 2%.
Amazingly, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) climbed 3.6% over April 2025, despite the volatility during the month.
The return of the ASX 200 was driven by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (ASX: CBA) share price rising by 10.4% – this was influential because it's the ASX's biggest business.
But, the overall positive index return was an intriguing situation. If I could teach myself and other investors some useful lessons from the last month, there are three I would highlight.
Corrections can happen even when markets are bullish
At the end of 2024, markets were very hopeful that the new Trump administration would be a boost for business conditions. Share prices rose on the expectation that the US economy was going to strengthen and profits would rise.
When (ASX equity) investors become too bullish, it can be a heavy knock to confidence when things don't turn out as rosy as expected. Overconfidence can be a risk.
The US tariff announcement by Trump wasn't expected by investors.
We don't need to embrace FOMO and invest at peak share market prices thinking there won't be any appealing prices in the future.
Keep in mind that the US still has a lot of trade talks to go to sort things out with its major trade partners. There could be more uncertainty ahead.
Low ASX share prices may not stick around forever
No-one has a crystal ball to know what's going to happen next. We don't know when a market dip is going to happen, but we also don't know when the recovery will happen either.
The worst of the market decline lasted less than a week. We may or may not have seen the bottom of the sell-off.
Bear markets only last for so long, whether that's a few days, weeks, months or even years. At some point, investors regain confidence and the sellers run out of shares to sell.
I think April has shown the value of investors being brave and decisive to jump on attractively-priced opportunities because they may not stick around for long.
While I didn't invest as much as I'd like, I did manage to put some money to work in April.
Think long-term
I believe the last few weeks and months have shown why it's important to think long-term.
When I invest, I'm not thinking about what could happen next month or even next year. The tariffs are an unfortunate development, but I don't think they're going to be a permanent negative forever.
When I think of how the long-term could turn out better than the current situation, today's uncertainty can seem like a buying opportunity rather than something to fear (in the shorter-term).
By thinking long-term, the sell-offs can be less scary. One of the things that has helped me most is to buy investments that I'd be excited to buy more of in a sell-off, rather than worrying about them during an overall market decline.
