February 2008
February 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 0.7% in February, further to a decline of 11.0% in January (S&P/ASX300 Accumulation Index). Resource stocks outperformed industrial stocks over the month, returning 11.0% and -5.7% respectively.
International shares
Overall, international stock markets declined 5.3% in February, further to a decline of 9.1% in January (MSCI World Ex Australia in $A (unhedged)).
The US stock market declined 3.5% in February, following a decline of 6.1% in January (S&P500). Technology stocks were also negative, returning -5.0% for the month (NASDAQ).
The UK stock market returned 0.1% for the month, following an decline of 8.9% in January (FTSE).
The Japanese stock market (Nikkei) returned 0.1%, following a decline of 11.2% the previous month.
Emerging markets gained 2.5% in Australian dollar terms, following a decline of 13.9% in January (MSCI Emerging Markets Free ($A) Accumulation Index).
Property
Australian listed property declined 4.9% (S&P/ASX200 Property Trust Accumulation Index), following a decline of 13.9% the previous month.
Fixed interest
The Australian bond market (UBS Warburg Australia Composite Bond Index) returned -0.6% in February. The international bond markets (Lehman Bros Global Aggregate Index (hedged to $A)) returned 0.6% for the month.
Cash
The Australian short-term money market returned 0.5% (UBS Warburg Australia Bank Bill Index).