November 2009
November saw positive performance for growth assets, with positive returns from Australian shares, international shares (unhedged to $A) and Australian listed property. Financial asset (Australian and international fixed interest) performance was positive for the month.
Australian shares
The Australian stock market gained 1.8% in November, following a return of -2.1% in October (S&P/ASX300 Accumulation Index). Resource stocks outperformed Industrial stocks over the month, returning 7.1% and -0.2% respectively.
International shares
Overall, international stock markets gained 2.8% in November, following a return of -4.1% in October (MSCI World Ex Australia in $A (unhedged)).
The US stock market returned 5.7% in November, following a decrease of 2.0% in October (S&P500). Technology stocks were positive, returning 4.9% for the month (NASDAQ).
The UK stock market returned 2.9% for the month, following a return of -1.7% in October (FTSE).
The Japanese stock market (Nikkei) decreased 6.9%, further to a decrease of 1.0% the previous month.
Emerging markets returned 3.0% in Australian dollar terms, following a return of -2.2% in October (MSCI Emerging Markets Free ($A) Accumulation Index).
Property
Australian listed property was positive for the month, returning 1.0% (S&P/ASX200 Property Trust Accumulation Index), following a return of -9.0% the previous month.
Fixed interest
The Australian bond market (UBS Australia Composite Bond Index) returned 1.5% in November. The international bond markets (Barclays Capital based Aggregate Index (hedged to $A) (formerly Lehman Brothers Index)) returned 1.3% for the month.
Cash
The Australian short-term money market returned 0.3% (UBS Warburg Australia Bank Bill Index).