2011 seemed to go on forever; finally its drawing to a close. US continued to be shaky, Europe is falling apart, emerging markets contracted contagion effects and (in addition) India suffers from policy paralysis. Nature played havoc in the form of Tsunami in Japan, Hurricane Irene and floods in Thailand.
However all is not lost.
- Occupy wall street is gaining momentum in the US and Anna at home
- US continues to grow and ends the year on a positive note, bucking mid year forecast and fears of impeding double dip
- US unemployment rate is dropping and consumer confidence is rising
- Markets feared a spate of municipal / Government default - but none, fortunately
- European Union and Euro have survived (so far) and reportedly 26 of 27 members have agreed to tighten budget controls in an attempt to stem EU's debt crisis
- India inflation is under control and CRR cut may be around the corner
The table below shows key asset indicators' level - current and last year's closing. Gold, US treasuries and Dow Jones have seen some safe haven flows, not surprisingly. India clearly isn't "shining" anymore, at least as far as foreign investors go. Major currency pairs look to be ending the year almost close to their years' opening level.
Current | 31 Dec 2010 | |
USD/INR | 53.05 | 44.70 |
EUR/USD | 1.3070 | 1.3377 |
GBP/USD | 1.5670 | 1.5599 |
USD/JPY | 77.78 | 81.15 |
DXY (Dollar index) | 79.80 | 79.03 |
Sensex | 15730 | 20509 |
Dow | 12291 | 11577 |
Nikkei | 8423 | 10228 |
NY Gold | 1592 | 1421 |
10Y USD T | 2.00 | 3.29 |
10 Y | 8.50 | 7.92 |
Call | 9.00 | 6.75 |
1 yr OIS (In) | 7.75 | 7.12 |
5 yr OIS (In) | 7.00 | 7.70 |
Good news is we survived 2011 (well, almost) and better news is 2012 promises to be another action packed year.
May 2012 (Mayan 2012?) mark the start of an exciting, joyous and new era!