May 2010
May saw mixed performance for growth assets, with negative returns from Australian shares and Australian listed property whereas international shares (unhedged to $A) was positive. Financial asset (Australian and international fixed interest) performance was positive for the month.
Australian shares
The Australian stock market returned -7.5% in May, following a fall of 1.3% April (S&P/ASX300 Accumulation Index). Resource stocks outperformed industrial stocks over the month, returning -5.9% and -8.1% respectively.
International shares
Overall, international stock markets gained 0.7% in May, following a fall of 1.4% in April (MSCI World Ex Australia in $A (unhedged)).
The US stock market returned -8.2% in May, following a gain of 1.5% in April (S&P500). Technology stocks were negative, returning -8.3% for the month (NASDAQ).
The UK stock market fell 6.6% for the month, following a return of -2.2% in April (FTSE).
The Japanese stock market (Nikkei) returned -11.7% for the month, following a fall of 0.3% the previous month.
Emerging markets gained 1.2% in Australian dollar terms, following a return of -0.2% in April (MSCI Emerging Markets Free ($A) Accumulation Index).
Property
Australian listed property was negative for the month, returning -4.0% (S&P/ASX200 Property Trust Accumulation Index), following a gain of 3.7% the previous month.
Fixed interest
The Australian bond market (UBS Australia Composite Bond Index) returned 1.6% in May. The international bond markets (Barclays Capital based Aggregate Index (hedged to $A) (formerly Lehman Brothers Index)) returned 1.2% for the month.
Cash
The Australian short-term money market returned 0.4% (UBS Warburg Australia Bank Bill Index).