While investors in the local share market may have suffered losses on the market last year, the Australian market fared much better than most overseas markets.
According to research by Merrill Lynch, the Australian share market was the seventh best performer in the world in the 12 months to December 31, despite losing 0.3 per cent over the year.
The US market, the world’s biggest, lost 10.5 per cent over the calendar year, its worst performance in 23 years. Most major European markets also recorded double-digit losses for the year. Japan was probably the worst hit of the large markets, shedding 26 per cent over the year.
In contrast, Japan’s neighbour China was the runaway top performer for the year. Its Shanghai B index rose 136.6 per cent over the year. The only other country to break double digit returns for the year was Ireland with 11.7 per cent.
The numbers for 2000 are a sober reminder to investors on the savages of equities markets. In 1999, only six of the world’s 38 biggest markets failed to make double digit returns for the calendar year and only one country, Belgium, recorded negative returns for the year.
