Commodity prices drive the Australian sharemarket up.

The S&P/ASX 300 Accumulation Index returned 4.8% for the month as commodity prices tracked upwards, propelling Australian shares to their best first quarter in 15 years.

Merger & Acquisition (M&A) activity ignites equity markets.

M&A activity propelled domestic and international sharemarkets higher. Australian M&A activity reached the heady levels of 2001, and European M&A hit record levels.

International bonds registered their worst performance since April 2004.

Bond yields rose across most regions, as bond investors digested better than expected economic conditions. These conditions heightened near term, and longer term, inflation expectations.

The Bank of Japan (BoJ) expects deflation to dissipate.

The BoJ signalled the end of its policy of “cheap money” which has been in place since March 2001, as the decade long era of deflation appears to be over.