2023 In Review

- 27 December 2023 2023 reflections

Global stock markets have performed better than feared in 2023 as a widely expected recession for the US economy was avoided without the negative knock-on impacts that would typically have entailed. The Australian economy has also proved resilient in an aggressive rate-hiking cycle. Most other major countries have been on the same page to varying degrees, although individual stock market performances have varied. As of mid-December, the S&P500 is an impressive 23% higher, in large part thanks to a stellar performance from the Magnificent 7 (the Nasdaq 100 has zoomed more than 51% higher) but enjoying broadening support from other pockets of the market over the past few weeks.

On home shores, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 is up a tad over 6%, supported by a solid advance over the past six weeks, recovering from a challenging September and October trading period.

The ride for investors hasn’t always been smooth, though, with bouts of vola...