October 2015Market Commentary | IFA Colchester

a

Asset prices rebounded in October, catching many hedge funds who had taken bearish positions off guard. Following the pessimism of August, and the subsequent stabilisation of markets in September, October proved to be a more positive month for investment portfolios as a fair chunk of recent losses were clawed back. Stock markets led the charge for financial assets, with China and Japan in particular performing well, having previously seen their markets sell down more than most in the midst of the summer drama. The announcement in the second half of the month that the European Central Bank would extend its bond-buying programme (more commonly known as quantitative easing or QE) also helped to reduce nervousness in the market place, leading stocks to rally.

Taking a closer look at the performance graph above, we see that the first eight categories of best performing financial assets during October all represent global stock markets.

Of these, the first seven stock markets each returned a hefty 5% or mo