What strange and challenging times we are all living in. As Covid-19 continues to restrict all of us in Ireland and around the world, everyone is very concerned about their health and that of their loved ones. Levels of concern are then also heightened for many people who are looking at reductions in their income or indeed the complete loss …
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With Greece set to default on its IMF debt today, the following update sets out what we may expect over the coming days. Background Greece and its creditors have failed to agree terms to allow the release of the last tranche of financial assistance under a second bailout package that expires today. Greece is to hold a referendum on 5th …
Read MoreJune continued the positive momentum with equities and bonds once again making gains. In June, the MSCI World Equity Index increased by 1.5% while bonds also generated positive returns with the ML over 5 year EMU Govt. Bond Index up 1.6%. From a regional perspective, Japanese equities led the way generating a return of 4.9%, continuing the positive sentiment in …
Read MoreDecember saw markets finish the year on a positive note with equities increasing further to record another stellar year. Markets had taken a step back up to mid month when finally the Federal Reserve announced the beginning of much anticipated tapering. Markets took comfort from this announcement and rallied to the year end. The MSCI World Equity Index increased by …
Read MoreGlobal equities fell for the first month in eight after the Federal Reserve reiterated it was mulling tighter monetary policy. Chairman Ben Bernanke said the US central bank was poised to cut bond purchases. Laying out a path for reining in policy, the central bank chief said ‘Quantitative Easing’ could end by the middle of 2014 when unemployment is around …
Read MoreThe first quarter of the year turned out to be very strong for equity markets in particular. The strong returns were driven by a combination of a better macro outlook for 2013 and investors’ increased appetite for risk assets. The MSCI World equity index gained almost 11% in euro terms (10% in local currency), though bond market returns were low, …
Read MoreEquity markets rallied in June with all equity markets exhibiting positive returns. In a very eventful month the markets were mostly range bound until the announcement at the European Union summit meeting of the intention to create a single supervisory mechanism for banks and for the ESM to recapitalise banks directly; the latter clearly designed to separate bank debt from …
Read More0Global equity markets were shaken by the civil unrest in Libya and the Middle East and the massive natural disaster that hit Japan during March. Markets sold off strongly in the first half of the month before rebounding towards month end with the MSCI World Index returning -3.6% over the month in Euro terms. Japan was unsurprisingly the worst performing …
Read More0December was another good month for global equities and brought an end to a very strong year of performance for global equity markets. The MSCI World Index gained 20.1% over the year in Euro terms with an 11% gain in Quarter 4 alone. In Ireland, 2010 may not have felt like such a positive year, especially for investors focused solely on …
Read More0The MSCI World Index fell 3.2% in June, bringing the 2010 return to date to +5.9%. As has been the case for some months, daily volatility was high and media headlines often gave markets their short term direction. During the first half of 2010 equity markets remained caught in a tug- of-war between strong economic fundamentals and investor fears around potential external shocks. On …
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