March 2009 was a positive month for equity markets with the MSCI World Index up 2.9%. All major regions posted positive returns, with Asia the best performing region during the month. Progress through the month was very volatile however. In early March the S&P fell to a twelve year low as investors focused on the stream of poor economic and …

February was another extremely weak month for equity markets. More astonishing losses were reported by the banking sector, which again received massive capital injections from governments. This, combined with worsening sentiment as the month progressed, led to an MSCI World Index return of -9.4%. Since October 2008, equity markets have been volatile on a daily basis but have traded within …

January 2009 was the fifth successive negative month for stock markets, with the MSCI World Index falling by 1%. The month began with a short-lived New Year climb in markets but, as the month progressed, further banking system fears and poorer than forecast corporate reports saw the initial gains recede. Global macro news was again disappointing, but largely formalising what is already …