Investment comment
January 2010
Economic and market background
It was only fitting that equity markets should continue to be fortified in the final quarter of a turbulent decade by the ultra-loose policies of the world's leading central banks. During the decade, monetary policymakers cut interest rates aggressively at times to tackle successive economic and financial-market crises, and they provided succour to most investors in doing so (albeit that 'developed world' equity markets made only small advances over the ten-year period). Despite the emergence of incipient concerns in the autumn about the implementation of 'exit strategies' from currently loose policies, fuelled initially by the Reserve Bank of Australia's surprise decision in October to increase the cost of borrowing, central bank-supplied liquidity appeared to sustain equity-market strength in most major regions during the closing months of 2009.
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Investment comment
