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Private Investor Diary: My 10-stock experiment

John Rosier's portfolio is performing strongly, helped by his mid- and small-cap holdings. But should he hold fewer stocks?
August 18, 2017

Another month of low volatility with most equity markets making further progress. The S&P 500, up 1.8 per cent, closed within a whisker of its 26 July high. In other markets, the Hang Seng gained 6.1 per cent and is up 25 per cent this year and India gained 5.2 per cent (22 per cent this year). The Nikkei 225 was down just 0.5 per cent but the German Dax, suffering I think from the sustained rally of the euro, was off 1.7 per cent. The euro has had quite a run, especially against the US dollar, with its 3.4 per cent gain in July extending its rise this year to 12.7 per cent. Sterling, stuck in the middle, dropped 2.1 per cent against the euro, (to 1.1163) but gained 1.3 per cent against the US dollar, to 131.97. The FTSE All-Share (Total Return) Index was up 1.2 per cent.

Government bonds stabilised after a sharp sell-off in late June/early July, with the US 10-year Treasury yield at 2.3 per cent and the UK 10-year yield falling a tad, to 1.23 per cent. Much to the market’s surprise oil rallied, with Brent Crude up 7.5 per cent and finishing the month back above $50 per barrel. Gold also had a better month, up 2.6 per cent to $1,273 an ounce.

 

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