March 2010
March saw mixed performance for growth assets, with positive returns from Australian shares and international shares (unhedged to $A) whereas Australian listed property fell. Financial asset (Australian and international fixed interest) performance was mixed for the month.
Australian shares
The Australian stock market returned 5.7% in March, following a gain of 2.0% in February (S&P/ASX300 Accumulation Index). Resource stocks outperformed industrial stocks over the month, returning 8.7% and 4.4% respectively.
International shares
Overall, international stock markets gained 3.5% in March, following a return of 0.6% in February (MSCI World Ex Australia in $A (unhedged)).
The US stock market returned 5.9% in March, following a gain of 2.9% in February (S&P500). Technology stocks were positive, returning 7.1% for the month (NASDAQ).
The UK stock market gained 6.1% for the month, following a return of 3.2% in February (FTSE).
The Japanese stock market (Nikkei) was positive 9.5% for the month, following a fall of 0.7% the previous month.
Emerging markets returned 5.4% in Australian dollar terms, following a return of -0.4% in February (MSCI Emerging Markets Free ($A) Accumulation Index).
Property
Australian listed property was negative for the month, returning -0.1% (S&P/ASX200 Property Trust Accumulation Index), following a return of 1.5% the previous month.
Fixed interest
The Australian bond market (UBS Australia Composite Bond Index) returned -0.6% in March. The international bond markets (Barclays Capital based Aggregate Index (hedged to $A) (formerly Lehman Brothers Index)) returned 0.6% for the month.
Cash
The Australian short-term money market returned 0.3% (UBS Warburg Australia Bank Bill Index).