April 2010
April saw mixed performance for growth assets, with negative returns from Australian shares and international shares (unhedged to $A) whereas Australian listed property was positive. Financial asset (Australian and international fixed interest) performance was positive for the month.
Australian shares
International shares
Overall, international stock markets fell 1.4% in April, following a return of 3.5% in March (MSCI World Ex Australia in $A (unhedged)).
The US stock market returned 1.5% in April, following a gain of 5.9% in March (S&P500). Technology stocks were positive, returning 2.6% for the month (NASDAQ).
The UK stock market fell 2.2% for the month, following a return of 6.1% in March (FTSE).
The Japanese stock market (Nikkei) returned -0.3% for the month, following a gain of 9.5% the previous month.
Emerging markets fell 0.2% in Australian dollar terms, following a return of 5.4% in March (MSCI Emerging Markets Free ($A) Accumulation Index).
Property
Australian listed property was positive for the month, returning 3.7% (S&P/ASX200 Property Trust Accumulation Index), following a return of -0.1% the previous month.
Fixed interest
The Australian bond market (UBS Australia Composite Bond Index) returned 0.6% in April. The international bond markets (Barclays Capital based Aggregate Index (hedged to $A) (formerly Lehman Brothers Index)) returned 0.9% for the month.
Cash
The Australian short-term money market returned 0.3% (UBS Warburg Australia Bank Bill Index).