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Delphi News December 2013 & Seasons Greetings!

Welcome to the final edition of DelphiNews for 2014.

Market Update

Global equity markets continued the October sharp rally through to November.

Oil prices declined by 30% during October and November. OPEC’s decision to maintain current production levels appears to be a long term strategy to undermine the higher cost of oil production.

Over in the US, it is anticipated the USD will maintain strength against major global currencies in 2015. The US economy will continue to improve in Q4 whilst China, Japan and Eurozone Central Banks are cutting interest rates or employing massive QE to maintain economic growth.

Back at home, residential construction continues to improve, while the AUD continues to weaken. The RBA left the cash rate unchanged at 2.5% in December. Q3 GDP data was weak however, there are signs that Q4 data may improve.

Economic Update

In the latest Update, Brian Parker, Head of Portfolio Specialists Group at MLC, reviews events in Australian and Overseas markets during November. Brian notes that most of the major world share markets showed decent gains during the month, particularly Japan, which continued to benefit from the big step-up in the Bank of Japan's quantitative easing program. Although Australian was one of the few markets to lose ground in November.

The Year in Review

Brian Parker reviews what has happened in Investment Markets this year and has a look ahead to 2015. He notes that Australian investors have enjoyed very good returns from multi-asset investment strategies over recent years, underpinned by the strong performance of world share markets. However, some important issues are unresolved and the investment environment is still unpredictable.

Seasons Greetings

On behalf of us here at Delphi, we wish you all the best for your Holiday Celebrations of Christmas, Hanunkkah or simply enyoying your family, friends and food!

I hope that you and your family have a safe and happy holiday with those you love. Considering the tragic events of the past week, it seems appropriate to give thanks for all the good things that we have in our lives and appreciate how fortunate we are most of the time.

Our office will be closing on Wednesday 24th December and will reopen on Monday 5th January 2015.

However if you have an urgent enquiry please contact us (as our emails will be monitored during the break).

Regards

Vince Dore CFP
Director