September 2008
September saw negative performance for our growth assets, with negative returns from Australian shares, international shares (hedged to $A), and Australian listed property. Financial asset (Australian and international fixed interest) performance was mixed for the month.
Australian shares
The Australian stock market declined 9.9% in September, following a gain of 4.0% in August (S&P/ASX300 Accumulation Index). Industrial stocks outperformed Resource stocks over the month, returning -4.1% and -20.5% respectively.
International shares
Overall, international stock markets returned -3.6% in September, following a gain of 7.8% in August (MSCI World Ex Australia in $A (unhedged)).
The US stock market declined 9.2% in September, following a gain of 1.2% in August (S&P500). Technology stocks were negative, returning -12.0% for the month (NASDAQ).
The UK stock market returned -13.0% for the month, following a gain of 4.2% in August (FTSE).
The Japanese stock market (Nikkei) declined 13.9%, further to a decline of 2.3% the previous month.
Emerging markets fell 9.9% in Australian dollar terms, following a gain of 5% in August (MSCI Emerging Markets Free ($A) Accumulation Index).
Property
Australian listed property returned -5.8% (S&P/ASX200 Property Trust Accumulation Index), following a gain of 10.3% the previous month.
Fixed interest
The Australian bond market (UBS Australia Composite Bond Index) returned 1.3% in September. The international bond markets (Lehman Bros Global Aggregate Index (hedged to $A)) returned -0.7% for the month.
Cash
The Australian short-term money market returned 0.6% (UBS Warburg Australia Bank Bill Index).