Sharemarkets have rebounded from their sharp drop in December, but investors shouldn’t be lulled into complacency by this upswing: the volatility we saw in 2018 is expected to continue this year.
Rising market values in January have made up for about half of the 20 per cent loss we saw late last year. It’s a nice start to the year, but ANZ’s chief investment office wants to be clear: we believe this will be a challenging year for investors.
Expect volatile sharemarkets
There’s plenty of risk in the sharemarket because economic growth is slowing while pressure is increasing on wages and prices rise, especially in the US. This may in turn see the US Federal Reserve raise interest rates, which would further slow global economic growth.
(Not to mention other matters such as the US-China trade war, Brexit, China’s debt-laden slowing economy, and so on, which are already making investors nervous and markets twitchy.)
Sharemarkets are clearly quite sensitive to all these issues, and can respond with volatile swings to positive or negative news in these areas. This is what we have been seeing.
Slower, but still solid growth
In response, governments and central banks are making effort to maintain growing economies.
- The US Federal Reserve will likely pause rate hikes for all or much of this year, which would support momentum in the world’s most important economy.
- China is easing monetary policy, through such measures as boosting lending to small businesses.
- Investors should note these efforts are likely only to stabilise growth rather than lead to a genuine reacceleration in 2019.
It’s a similar story for Australia. Growth will likely slow but remain solid. Public spending, business investment and net exports should all contribute to keep growth around trend. However, wages growth is expected to remain weak with falling house prices in both Sydney and Melbourne adding to concerns. Despite these risks the government budget is in good shape. The Reserve Bank of Australia’s cash rate is likely to remain at 1.5 per cent for at least another year.
Investment returns 2017 v 2018
investment returns
Asset class
|
2017
|
2018
|
---|
Australian shares
|
12%
|
-3%
|
International shares (hedged)
|
20%
|
-8%
|
International shares (unhedged)
|
13%
|
2%
|
Emerging market shares
|
27%
|
-5%
|
International property
|
11%
|
-4%
|
Australian fixed income
|
4%
|
5%
|
International fixed income
|
4%
|
2%
|
Cash
|
1.8%
|
1.9%
|
AUD/USD
|
0.78
|
0.71
|
Index information: International shares hedged - MSCI World ex Australia Net Index (hedged to AUD) | International shares unhedged - MSCI World ex Aust (Net) | US shares – US S&P 500 | European shares – MSCI Europe | Emerging market shares - MSCI Emerging Markets (Net) in AUD | Australian Shares - S&P / ASX 300 Accumulation | International ¬fixed interest – Bloomberg Barclays Capital Global Aggregate (hedged to AUD) | Australian ¬fixed interest - Bloomberg AusBond Composite 0+ Yr Index | International property – FTSE EPRA/NAREIT Developed Rental Index ex Australia (hedged) | Infrastructure - FTSE Developed Core infrastructure 50/50 Net Hedged to AUD | Cash - Bloomberg Barclays Bank Bill Index.
Source: JP Morgan