Gold bars are seen in this picture illustration taken at the Czech National Bank in Prague January 31, 2011.PETR JOSEK
S&P/TSX
- 1.1 per cent year-to-date
Canadian stocks disappointed in the first half. The S&P/TSX is on a course this year to underperform New York's S&P 500 for the first time in seven years. There are several forces to blame: the strong loonie has cut into Canadian exports, tighter monetary policy in China has hurt commodity-related stocks, and some high-profile stocks have cratered. Robert Kavcic, an economist with BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc., calculates that Research In Motion Ltd., Cameco Corp. and Sino-Forest Corp. accounted for a combined 215 of the 245 points lost by the TSX this year.
S&P 500
+ 5 per cent year-to-date
U.S. stocks have enjoyed some of the best gains among global markets thanks to the Federal Reserve's exceptionally loose monetary strategy and stimulus package. The broad-based S&P 500 index had felt the weight of investors' worry over Europe's debt and currency crisis. But the bailout accord for Greece helped the benchmark rise 4 per cent during the last four days of June. Health care, oil and gas, utilities and consumer goods proved the leading segments, with technology and financials pulling up the rear.
Gold
+ 6.5 per cent year-to-date
Bullion prices built on their steady gains of the past decade as investors sought to protect their wealth during uncertain economic times and growing worries that Europe's debt crisis could threaten the stability of the euro. The price of the precious metal hit an all-time high of $1,577.57 on May 2. Some analysts point to rising demand from China, where the expanding middle class is looking to preserve wealth in the face of negative real rates on savings accounts. Gold, now at $1,499.70, is also getting a lift from the weak U.S. dollar, which is the global currency used to price commodities.
Oil
+ 4.2 per cent year-to-date
Prices for the world's most actively traded commodity have gone on a wild ride this year. They hit a year-to-date high near $114 (U.S.) a barrel on April 29 as a weak U.S. dollar and turmoil in North Africa and the Middle East offset concerns about slowing economic growth and declining fuel demand in the U.S. A rapid selloff followed as investors weighed factors from the killing of Osama bin Laden to the impact of higher fuel and commodity costs on consumers. Prices dipped further in June as the U.S. and the International Energy Agency released emergency crude supplies.
Bonds
+ 2.5 per cent year-to-date
U.S. 10-year Treasury notes returned 2.5 per cent in the first half of the year, as skittish investors sought shelter from a steady flow of ominous data, which included signs that U.S. economic growth is slowing. Yields, which move in the opposite direction to prices, swung as high as 3.739 per cent on Feb. 8. They touched a low of 2.864 per cent on June 24, at a critical point in European efforts to manage Greece's debt crisis. With a new bailout package finally arranged, demand for T-bills softened during the last week, sending prices down and yields rising once more.