Category: 2016 Market
The Year in Review: 2016 Market Summary
It’s difficult to predict the market over the short term, and 2016 has proven that point. Here are a few things that surprised the markets this year. Interest rates remain mainly unchanged for the year. In December 2015 the Fed increased interest rates for the first time in 9 years, and indicated plans to raise rates slowly in 2016. Due to concerns about less than robust economic growth, rates have remained at historic lows. Only post-election have interest rate sensitive sectors moved in response to anticipated rate increases in 2017. Late year rising bond yields during the quarter resulted in outright declines in bond-proxy sectors, such as utilities, staples, and real estate. In 2015 the China stock market declined, setting off global market declines and a return to volatility, but by late year that was all behind us – or so we thought. 2016 started with another steep sell-off in the Chinese stock market which in turn caused global markets to sell off. World markets also tumbled after the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union. Investors lost more than the equivalent of 2 trillion United States dollars on June 24, 2016, making this day the worst single day drop in history according to data from S&P Global. The losses were extended to a combined total of the equivalent of 3 trillion dollars by additional selling on June 27, 2016, also according to data from S&P Global. Fortunately, that sell-off was short lived, and within
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