Market Report for February 2017. Below are the key points for the month:

• The RBA kept the overnight cash rate at 1.50% at the February board meeting. The rate was also left unchanged during the March board meeting.
• In fixed income, the 3 Month Bank Bill Swap Rate held steady at 1.78 and the 10 Year Australian Bond Rate rose 0.01% to 2.74 in February.
• Spreads on Australian corporate debt continued to fall in February, as indicated by the iTraxx Australian Index declining -8.59 points to 84.59, down a significant amount from 155.77 12 months ago.
• Australian shares rose over the month, with the All Ordinaries Index and the S&P/ASX 200 Index gaining 1.52% and 1.62%, respectively. Domestic listed property outperformed the broader share market, gaining 3.35% over the month.
• Global equity markets rallied in February, with the Dow Jones Industrials (US) adding 4.77% to be the best performer over the month. Japan was the worst performing market in February, despite the 0.90% gain over the month.
• Gold, oil and iron ore prices gained 3.73%, 2.27% and 10.18%, respectively, in February. As at end of the month the price of iron ore in US Dollar terms had risen an impressive 86.23% when compared with the 12 months ago, continuing its stellar run. The overall CRB Spot Commodity Index fell -0.21% in US Dollar terms.
• The Australian Dollar rose against most major currencies in February, 1.60% against the US Dollar, 2.61% against the Euro, 2.25% against the British Pound, and 0.71% against the Japanese Yen.
• The Australian Trade Weighted Index (TWI) gained 1.68% over the month, ending February at 66.70.

Share market volatility fell domestically (-1.39%) and rose in the US (0.93%).