Equity markets progressed again in May with the MSCI World Index up 2.2% for the month. Investors are renewing focus on macro economic data and the outlook for economies post the recent company earnings reporting season. There seems to be increasing consensus that the global economy is not heading towards a 1930’s style global economic depression. Markets are responding positively …

April saw a continued rally in equity markets from their lows in early March 2009. The MSCI World Index rose by 11.5% as investor sentiment turned positive. There have been some early signs that economies are approaching the bottom of the economic cycle, especially in the US, where there are signs that the housing market may be close to a bottom. …

March 2009 was a positive month for equity markets with the MSCI World Index up 2.9%. All major regions posted positive returns, with Asia the best performing region during the month. Progress through the month was very volatile however. In early March the S&P fell to a twelve year low as investors focused on the stream of poor economic and …

February was another extremely weak month for equity markets. More astonishing losses were reported by the banking sector, which again received massive capital injections from governments. This, combined with worsening sentiment as the month progressed, led to an MSCI World Index return of -9.4%. Since October 2008, equity markets have been volatile on a daily basis but have traded within …

January 2009 was the fifth successive negative month for stock markets, with the MSCI World Index falling by 1%. The month began with a short-lived New Year climb in markets but, as the month progressed, further banking system fears and poorer than forecast corporate reports saw the initial gains recede. Global macro news was again disappointing, but largely formalising what is already …