The S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.10 per cent during October after selling off about 2 per cent in the final two sessions of the month according to S&P Dow Jones Indices.
Despite a fall of 1.85 per cent last month, the major index remains up 14.71 per cent year-to-date after consecutive monthly gains between January and August.
Microcap stocks tracked by the S&P/ASX Emerging Companies index gained 4.19 percent in October and the index remains 38.35 per cent higher year-to-date.
The S&P/ASX Small Ordinaries index ended the month up 0.92 per cent while the S&P/ASX MidCap 50 rose 0.29 per cent.
Five out of the 11 sectors of the S&P/ASX 200 moved higher during October.
Information technology recorded a gain of 2.10 per cent and was the best performing sector, ahead of a 0.97 per cent gain for health care.
The financials sector contributed the most positive to the S&P/ASX 200 during the month, according to S&P Dow Jones Indices, with a rise of 0.78 per cent.
Energy, the top performing sector for September, was among the worst sectors after a fall of 2.69 per cent, while the industrials sector fell 3.23 per cent.
Utilities fell 0.63 per cent and remains the only sector in the red for 2021 with a fall of 2.08 per cent year-to-date.
S&P Dow Jones Indices also drew attention to the 4.28 per cent decline for the S&P/ASX Australian Government Bond Index during October with “mounting expectations of a hike from the Reserve Bank of Australia in 2022, and an end to bond purchases before that”.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported last month that underlying inflation has now entered into the RBA’s target range of 2 to 3 per cent.
Jon Bragg
Jon Bragg is a journalist for Momentum Media's Investor Daily, nestegg and ifa. He enjoys writing about a wide variety of financial topics and issues and exploring the many implications they have on all aspects of life.
