Gloom continues for equities
Australian superannuation fund members will have received little good news in November, with the latest Mercer sector surveys revealing both Australian and international equities posted broadly negative results during the month.
According to Mercer, November saw the Australian share market maintain its downward trend, with the S&P/ASX 300 falling 6.3 per cent over the month, following massive sell-offs in October and September.
The Mercer analysis said small cap stocks had declined by 9.6 per cent during November, substantially underperforming their large cap counterparts, which declined only 5.8 per cent.
Looking at international equities, the Mercer analysis said the MSCI World ex-Australia index had declined by 6.1 per cent in local currency terms, with several large countries slipping into recession and banks continuing to report losses.
However, it said the last week of November saw the market reverse, with Governments across the world introducing rescue packages and the US Government’s bailout of Citigroup helping to improve sentiment.
AUTHOR
Mike Taylor
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