January 2011

January saw positive performance for growth assets, with positive returns from Australian shares, Australian listed property and international shares (unhedged to $A). Financial asset (Australian and international fixed interest) performance was positive for the month.

Australian shares

The Australian stock market returned 0.1% in January, following a return of 3.8% in December (S&P/ASX300 Accumulation Index). Industrial stocks outperformed resource stocks over the month, returning 1.9% and -2.8% respectively.

International shares

Overall, international stock markets returned 5.3% in January, following a gain of 0.3% in December (MSCI World Ex Australia in $A (unhedged)).

The US stock market gained 2.3% in January, following a return of 6.5% in December (S&P500). Technology stocks were also positive, returning 1.8% for the month (NASDAQ).

The UK stock market returned -0.6% for the month, following a gain of 6.7% in December (FTSE).

The Japanese stock market (Nikkei) gained 0.1% for the month, following a return of 2.9% the previous month.

Emerging markets was flat for the month in Australian dollar terms, following a rise of 0.2% in December (MSCI Emerging Markets Free ($A) Accumulation Index).

Property

Australian listed property was positive for the month, with a gain of 2.4% (S&P/ASX200 Property Trust Accumulation Index), following a return of 1.2% the previous month.

Fixed interest

The Australian bond market (UBS Australia Composite Bond Index) gained 0.9% in January. The international bond markets (Barclays Capital based Aggregate index (hedged to $A) (formerly Lehman Brothers Index)) increase by 0.1% for the month.

Cash