Market Update – 30th September 2014

1. The RBA held the overnight cash rate steady at 2.50% for the 13th consecutive Month in September.
    
2. The 3 Month Bank Bill Swap Rate and 10 Year Australian Bond Yield both increased over the month, adding 0.08% and 0.18% respectively.
    
3. The Australian Share Market plummeted, with the All Ordinaries Price Index and the S&P/ASX 200 Index decreasing by -5.83% and -5.92% respectively.
    
4. The Australian Listed Property Sector followed the downward trend in the broader equities market, with the ASX 300 Property Index losing -5.18% for the month.
    
5. September was a difficult month for many global equity markets, with the Hang Seng Price Index plunging by -7.31% to be the worst performer.  The US and UK both recorded losses in September, with the S&P 500 US Index and the FTSE 100 UK Index losing -1.55% and -2.89% respectively.
    
6. The Japanese TOPIX Price Index was the best performer over the month, adding 3.78%.
    
7. Gold and Oil prices tumbled further over the month, falling by -5.83% and -5.00% respectively. The overall US$ CRB Spot Commodity Price Index fell by -2.15% in September.
    
8. There was a large sell off of the Australian Dollar in September, as it depreciated significantly against most currencies. In particular, it fell by -6.39% against the US Dollar, -2.79% versus the  Euro, -4.51% against British Pound and -1.38% against the Japanese Yen.
    
9. The Australian Trade Weighted Index (TWI) decreased by -4.17% in September, indicating a large drop in Australia’s international competitiveness.
    
10. Corporate debt spreads widened in September, which rose from 80.21 to 87.07, as measured by the iTraxx Australia Index.  The S&P VIX Index rose to 16.31% in September from 11.98% last month, indicating a large increase in the US equity market volatility.

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 Source:       Zenith Investment Partner