Key Points:
- 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).
- The 3 Month Bank Bill Swap rate ended the month priced at 2.99%, unchanged from the end of March.
- The 10 Year Bond rate declined by 32bp to end the month priced at 3.09%.
- 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.
- Australian Listed Property also posted strong returns, gaining 8.15% for the month.
- Global Equities similarly performed well in April, with most major regional equity markets posting strong positive returns.
- The strongest regional performer was the TOPIX (Japan) which gained 9.23% for the month to continue its strong recent run of form.
- 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%.
- Commodities prices continued to struggle, with the gold price declining by 7.25% and the $US Oil Price falling by 3.45%.
- 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%.
- US equity market volatility increased, with the VIX Index gaining 0.85%, to end the month priced at 13.04.
Please click on the following link to gain access to this resource.
Click here to read this Market Report – 30th April 2013
Supplied by Zenith Investment Partners
| 
