Market Commentary

Well, what a splendid month October was, with all the major world stock markets that we cover in this Bulletin skipping merrily upwards. Germany and China led the way with gains of 12% and 11% respectively, and if you only looked at the figures you’d be quite justified in thinking that everything in the world economic garden was rosy.

The end of the third quarter of 2015 was, as all the financial press reported, the worst for global equities since 2011.

Never was the statement “Markets can fall as well as rise” more true than in August, when virtually all major markets headed down.

July was a busy month. Greece held a referendum on austerity – with an emphatic rejection, before a bailout on the same lines as the rejection was finally agreed. The Chancellor delivered his second Budget this year whilst Chinese markets fell dramatically.