The RBA kept the overnight cash rate steady at 2.50% during the December board meeting.
Fixed income securities remained relatively steady in December, with the Three Month Bank Bill Swap Rate gaining 0.04% to end the month priced at 2.58%.
10 Year Bond Rates finished the month priced at 4.24%, up by 0.02% from November.
Australian Shares gained slightly during December, as the All Ordinaries Price Index rose by 0.73% and the S&P/ASX 200 Price Index increased by 0.60%.
Australian Listed Property had a poor month, dropping by -3.06% in December as measured by the ASX 300 Property Price Index.
Many of the major global equities markets posted positive returns in December. Japan was again the strongest performer, rising 3.47% for the month as measured by the Japanese TOPIX Price Index. The Dow Jones Industrials Price Index also performed well, gaining 3.05% for the month.
Hong Kong stocks performed poorly compared to their global counterparts, with the Hang Seng Price Index slumping by -2.41% in December.
Commodities prices had an overall negative month with the US$ CRB Spot Commodity Index dropping by -1.47%. The price of gold continued to plummet, declining by -3.82% for the month. The US$ Oil Price recovered over December, gaining by 5.86%.
Following the previous month’s downtrend, the AUD depreciated against most major currencies in December (falling -1.99% against USD, -3.40% against EUR and -3.17% against GBP). The AUD recorded a 0.68% appreciation against JPY over the month, consistent with the Yen’s general decline against other currencies.
US equity market volatility was largely unchanged from the previous month, rising by 0.02% in December to a price level of 13.72, as measured by the S&P VIX Index.
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