Equities

  • Developed market stocks rose 0.6% over the month
  • U.S. increased 2.4%
  • European equities rose 0.1%
  • Japan declined 1.2%
  • emerging markets lost 3.5%
  • Brazil fell 10.9%
Currencies

  • U.S. dollar rallied over the month.
  • pressure on emerging market currencies, worst  being the Argentine peso and Turkish lira
  • euro fell 2.5% on political uncertainty in Italy
  • British pound fell to a near five-month low against the dollar
Commodities

  • crude oil surpassed $80 per barrel for the first time in nearly four years
  • coffee and sugar prices benefit from Brazilian truckers’ strike
  • aluminum rose due to continued outage at a Brazilian alumina refinery