Market Information - Archive
Below is an archive of our past
sector review reports
October 2010 The prospect of Quantitative easing (QE) by the US, dominated the headlines in October. The question of will they or won’t they, was then followed by when and how much will it be. Equity markets had positive returns in response to the prospective QE, there was little change in fixed interest.
- Download October Review (PDF 486kb)
September 2010 was a positive month to end the quarter. The earthquake that rattled Christchurch took centre stage in New Zealand, however the impact on financial markets was limited. Globally, sentiment was positive in response to improving economic data and comments by US officials regarding the possibility of quantitative easing.
- Download September Review (PDF 390kb)
August 2010 saw the return of uncertainty, this time surrounding the US and the recovery story. As a result equities globally fell, while fixed interest performed well. The RBNZ OCR review in July was the catalyst for a strong performance in fixed interest in August.
- Download August Review (PDF 478kb)
July 2010 July was positive for all markets, with equity markets bouncing back after a volatile June quarter. For the first time since March, all markets had positive monthly returns.
- Download July Review (PDF -422kb)
June 2010 Early in June, equity markets stabilised after dramatic falls in May. Volatility then returned to markets, reflecting concerns over European sovereign debt and global growth prospects (US and China).
- Download June Review (PDF -515kb)
May 2010 “Volatile” sums up May. Investors headed away from higher risk in to the safe haven of lower risk investments. Markets globally were unsettled by the developing sovereign debt crisis in Europe, and this overshadowed positive data coming out of the US and NZ during the month.
- Download May Review (PDF -371kb)
April 2010was a month of two halves. The first half saw markets buoyant with renewed confidence coming from the US. The second half reflected investor’s uncertainty with the situation in Greece and also the US banking sector, where Goldman Sachs are being prosecuted for fraud.
- Download April Review (PDF -512kb)
March 2010 was a positive month for global equities markets, and for the first month this year this included New Zealand. There was minimal change in the New Zealand Fixed Interest market.
- Download March Review(PDF - 294kb)
February 2010 followed the themes of January, with concerns over Greece and China being
centre stage, however fears seemed to have calmed as Greece prepares to put in plans for
deficit reduction. Equity markets around the world generally produced positive returns as a
result. A large number of companies announced profit results in February with many having
good results.
- Download February Review (PDF - 210kb)
January 2010 -Negative developments in global financial markets pushed investors away from Equities in January into the safe haven of interest rates. All global equity markets suffered while NZ cash and bonds had a positive month:
- Download January Review (PDF - 348kb)
December 2009 - typically a quiet month with low volumes but has the potential to be volatile in thin trading. Fortunately there were no unpleasant surprises. The recovery theme continued with the domestic economy posting positive growth over the final quarter of 2009 setting the stage for an improved outlook for 2010.
- Download December Review (PDF - 256kb)
November 2009 - November is a tale of two halves. The recovery looks on track; with global growth prospects improving early in the month, but doubts about the sustainability and strength became the focus and wiped away most of the gains. Locally all eyes are on the RBNZ, and when they intend to raise the cash rate. Globally the US still struggles with soaring unemployment and the Dubai incident highlighted how easily the recovery can be derailed.
- Download November Review (PDF - 256kb)
October 2009 - The month of October lived up to its reputation for volatility, with global equity markets making solid gains in the first half of the month, giving way to weakness and large moves in the second half.
- Download October Review (PDF - 155kb)
September 2009 - Ongoing signs of a global economic recovery, monetary stimulus programmes and better than expected company results, has helped to sustain the rally in global equities over September.
- Download September Review (PDF - 158kb)
August 2009 -Global equity markets rose sharply over the early part of August in response to better-than-expected economic data. However the equity markets gave back some gains in the middle part of August as investors sold to realise profits. Concerns that Chinese authorities may curb investment lending added to the weakness.
- Download August Review (PDF - 153kb)
July 2009 -The major highlight for the month of July has been the strong rebound in equity markets as investor confidence continues to grow. Equity indices showed a returns of over 7% for the month.
- Download July Review (PDF - 157kb)
June 2009 -June can be viewed broadly as a month of consolidation with volatility generally lower than earlier in the year. Longer-term interest rates drifted up over the month but short term rates were fairly stable as the Reserve Bank of New Zealand kept the Official Cash Rate unchanged at their June review.
- Download June Review (PDF - 98kb)
May 2009 -Equity markets consolidated recent gains during May with the NZSX50 Index rising 0.9% for the month, underperforming larger international equity markets. Investor confidence continued to improve as various economic data releases provided further evidence that the global business cycle has started to stabilise.
- Download May Review (PDF - 164kb)
April 2009 -April was another positive month for equity markets with Australasian and overseas markets performing well as sentiment towards the global economy improves. Investors reduced “safe-haven” asset classes of cash and bonds and moved more into equity markets. The April G24 meeting communiqué helped to ease some of the uncertainty, noting that “some signs of stabilisation are emerging”.
- Download April Review (PDF - 159kb)
March 2009 -Investors’ outlook on the global economy improved radically in March. Positive comments from the from the Chief Executives at various banks (including Citigroup, Bank of America and Barclays) who said that earnings had got off on a strong start in 2009, helped to alleviate nervous investors.
- Download March Review (PDF - 172kb)
February 2009 - Concern about the financial sector and worries about global recession dominated financial markets in February
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January 2009 - The major news item during January 2009 was the cut of the Official Cash Rate (OCR) by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ). The OCR was reduced by 1.50% to 3.50%. It was the second 150 basis point reduction in a row.
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December 2008 - The failure of Lehman Brothers in late September unleashed a crescendo of fear and panic, which reached its peak in mid–late October.
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November 2008 - Volatility and risk aversion dominated trading on global and NZ financial markets during November. While various measures of fear did recede somewhat from the extreme panic of mid-late October, they were yet to fully normalise by month’s end.
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October 2008 - Equity markets continued to weaken over October as the fallout of the global economic crisis intensified. The ongoing financial crisis is resulting in a substantial deterioration in the global economic outlook and heightened downside risks. Shrinking bank balance sheets mean credit will remain tight and lending to households and businesses will remain very constrained on a global scale.
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September 2008 - The global credit crunch lurched from bad to worse, with events coming to a head in September. September was one of the most action-packed months ever seen in the modern financial era. The global credit crunch was widely described as the worst crisis since the Great Depression, with the dramatic events that took place consistent with that sort of description. Markets behaved erratically.
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August 2008 - >> click here to view PDF
July 2008 - >> click here to view PDF
