Finance News

Monthly Market Report – August 2017

Monthly Market Report for August 2017.  Below are the key points for the month:
  • The RBA kept the overnight cash rate at 1.50% at the August meeting. The rate was also left unchanged at the September board meeting.
  • In fixed income, the 3 Month Bank Bill Swap Rate and the 10 Year Australian Bond Rate rose by 0.04% and 0.02%, respectively, in August.
  • Spreads on Australian corporate debt fell in August, as indicated by the iTraxx Australian Index falling a significant -6.10 points to 71.16.
  • Australian shares were roughly flat in August, with the All Ordinaries Index gaining 0.04%, and the S&P/ASX 200 Index falling by -0.11%, over the month. Domestic listed property outperformed the broader share market, rising by 0.73% over the month.
  • Global equity markets were mixed over the month, with the Hang Seng (Hong Kong) Index gaining 2.37%, to be the best performer in August. Europe was the worst performing market in August, falling -1.05%.
  • Gold and iron ore prices rose by 3.72% and 4.79%, respectively, in August. The oil price fell by -5.86% over the month. The overall CRB Spot Commodity Index fell by -1.41% in US Dollar terms.
  • The Australian Dollar fell -1.11% against the US Dollar, -2.18% against the Euro and -1.12% against the Japanese Yen. The Australian Dollar rose 0.51% against the British Pound.
  • The Australian Trade Weighted Index (TWI) fell by -1.49% over the month, ending August at 66.30.
Share market volatility fell domestically (-0.49%) and rose in the US (0.33%).

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