Key Points:

1. The RBA elected to keep the overnight cash rate unchanged at 3.00% in the April meeting (since reduced the rate by 25 basis points (bp) to 2.75% during the May board meeting).
2. The 3 Month Bank Bill Swap rate ended the month priced at 2.99%, unchanged from the end of March.
3. The 10 Year Bond rate declined by 32bp to end the month priced at 3.09%.
4. Despite experiencing a correction in March, Australian equities continued their recent upwards trend in April with the All Ordinaries Index closing 3.79% higher, while the S&P/ASX 200 Index ended the month 4.52% higher.
5. Australian Listed Property also posted strong returns, gaining 8.15% for the month.
6. Global Equities similarly performed well in April, with most major regional equity markets posting strong positive returns.
7. The strongest regional performer was the TOPIX (Japan) which gained 9.23% for the month to continue its strong recent run of form.
8. European equities were also strong performers in April, with the STOXX 50 Index (EUR) gaining 4.11% while the FTSE 100 Index (UK) gained 3.06%.
9. Commodities prices continued to struggle, with the gold price declining by 7.25% and the $US Oil Price falling by 3.45%.
10. The Australian Dollar declined against most major currencies, in particular posting poor returns against the Euro, down 3.06%, and the British Pound, down 2.64%.
11. US equity market volatility increased, with the VIX Index gaining 0.85%, to end the month priced at 13.04.

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Supplied by Zenith Investment Partners