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Investment director, Edmund Brandt, sums up the latest views from J.P. Morgan Asset Management’s regional investment desks, providing an overview of current strategy and the latest opinions on the outlook for global stock markets.
After a strong start to 2012, global stock markets fell back in April, with the MSCI World Index dropping 1.5% in local currency terms. The main causes of the fall in world stock markets were mixed economic data and negative political news.
A sustainable recovery in the US will be a key driver of global growth. Investment Director Edmund Brandt looks back on the first quarter of 2012.
Support for stock markets is strengthening, with improving economic data, central banks signaling further supportive action and share prices still looking cheap. I favour the US, Asian and emerging markets, but would not give up on Europe given the high dividend yield support.
2012 started in an encouraging manner, with stock markets performing well. The MSCI World Index rose 4.3% in local currency terms in January.
Farewell to a difficult 2011…Global share prices rose modestly in December but this was not enough to fully recoup losses incurred earlier in the year – the MSCI World Index fell by 5.5% for 2011 as a whole.
2011 has been a difficult and disappointing year for global stock markets. For the last six months investors have felt like passengers on a scary rollercoaster, driven by economic and political factors out of their control. Both investors and strategists seem to have been struggling to stay in time with the market gyrations this year.
