Market Update

Investment markets and key developments over the past weekSharemarkets have started the year on a strong footing after a disappointing December, because of the easing in China’s Covid restrictions which will boost global growth, further signs of a deceleration in inflation and expectations of a slowing in central bank rate hikes. US shares were 2.3% higher over the week (with gains across all sectors except health care and consumer staples), Eurozone shares lifted by 2.7%, Japanese shares rose by 1.8%, Chinese stocks [...]

Investment markets and key developments over the past week Share markets resumed their rally over the last week helped by further signs of a slowing in rate hikes from the Fed and a decline in bond yields. While the latter may partly reflect recession fears, lower bond yields also make shares more attractive from a valuation perspective. Reflecting this, US, Eurozone and Japanese shares rose for the week, but Chinese shares fell on Covid lockdown worries. The positive global lead saw [...]

Investment markets and key developments Global shares surged over the last week helped by lower than expected US inflation for October, which is seen as taking pressure off the Fed and ultimately other central banks including the RBA (as US inflation led inflation in other countries including Australia on the way up). For the week US shares rose 5.9%, Eurozone shares rose 4.8%, Japanese shares gained 3.9% and Chinese shares rose 0.6% (helped by more signs of an easing [...]

Investment markets and key developments over the past week Shares saw another week of big swings, particularly with the Fed signalling that the peak in interest rates may be higher than previously expected. This saw US shares fall 3.3% for the week, but Eurozone shares rose 1.6% and Japanese shares rose 0.3%. Chinese shares rose 6.4% helped by talk of a relaxation in China’s zero Covid policy. Despite the poor global lead Australian shares managed to rise by 1.6% for [...]

Investment markets and key developments over the past week Sharemarkets continued to rally this week across most countries with Australia up 1.6%, (all sectors rose except consumer staples, energy and materials), US +3.9% (with all sectors up except tech communications) thanks to solid earnings results, Japan +0.8%, Eurozone +3.9% but China was weaker with shares down 5.4% as investors took the National Party Congress as a negative sign for Chinese growth prospects both from an economic and political point of [...]

Investment markets & key developments Share markets had a strong bounce in the middle of the past week from very oversold levels, helped along by the UK tax backflip, softer US manufacturing and job opening data which may take pressure off the US Federal Reserve (Fed), and for Australian shares, the dovish hike from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA). However, the bounce was short lived, with solid US jobs data being seen as keeping the Fed hawkish for [...]

Investment markets & key developments Share markets fell sharply again over the last week in response to continuing hawkish central bank comments and rising recession fears not helped by a mini fiscal crisis in the UK. This capped of sharp falls for the month with US and global shares down around 8%, which saw September live up to its reputation as the weakest month of the year for shares. Reflecting the poor global lead Australian shares also fell around [...]

Investment markets and key developments over the past week Share markets fell sharply again over the last week in response to another round of hawkish rate hikes pushing up bond yields and adding to recession fears and with a threatened intensification of the war in Ukraine adding to worries. Reflecting the poor global lead Australian shares fell around another 2.7% with falls led by interest sensitive IT, property, utility and retail shares. Bond yields rose as ever higher short-term interest [...]

Investment markets and key developments over the past week Share markets fell sharply over the last week, reversing their rally from the previous week’s lows as US inflation surprised on the upside adding again to Fed rate hike expectations. The poor global lead saw Australian shares fall back to their lows of the previous week with falls led by property, health, consumer staple and industrial shares. Bond yields rose as higher short term interest rates for longer were factored in. [...]

Investment markets and key developments over the past week Sharemarkets were mostly up over past week, with the US lifting by 2.1%, Australia +0.7%, Japan +2.1% and China +2.3%. The exception was in the Eurozone where equities fell by 0.9%. After global sharemarkets rallied hard from mid-June to August on expectations of a “central bank pivot” from aggressive rate hikes, shares had been on a downtrend since then as central banks have remained hawkish and economic data has been solid [...]