Market Commentary

September saw the New Zealand market hang onto its strong August returns, ending the month up 0.4%. Developed markets outside of Australia (-1.3%), all made positive moves with the US (+0.6%), UK (+1.2%) and Japan (+6.2%) up, while Emerging markets fell 1.1%. Over the month, the US led trade wars continued with another $200bn of tariffs introduced on Chinese imports. In response, we saw China introduce rebates on exports and promote domestic consumption…no end in sight for now itseems. The Fed raised rates over the month continuing its tightening path, the market now pricing an 80% chance of another hike in December. NZ bond indexes were relatively subdued over the month as the government bond index fell 0.2% …