January Market Update and Commentary
I’m pleased to enclose the first edition of Market Update & Outlook for 2011 This month’s Market Update is longer than usual because it has a feature article on what you should keep an eye on in 2011 by Robert Henderson, Chief Economist, Markets, NAB. As well as this, the newsletter has all the usual key information to keep you up to date and informed about everything that’s been happening in the local and global economies and equity markets here and around the world. Key themes from this edition It seems as though while growth in the US remains quite low and Europe’s problems remain, the global economy looks to be heading in the right direction, with Asia leading the way. This is mainly due to China, where the strong economy continues to drive growth figures although inflation is still a key concern. In Australia, markets performed strongly over December relative to the rest of the world and our property index outperformed the global property index for the month too. While it’s been a reasonably good start to the year, as a long-term investor, it’s important to keep in mind that we can probably expect to see more volatility as global markets work towards a sustained recovery. If you’d like to discuss anything in this report please give my office a call.