Global markets wobbled in October as most asset classes declined. On a broad basis, both equities and bonds were negative, with global government bonds underperforming equities as bond yields rose sharply.

Third quarter turned out to be a breeze for global risk assets. Concerns sparked by the UK’s historic “Brexit” vote heading into the quarter were allayed by central bankers’ decisive statements and actions in the days and weeks following the referendum, which reassured markets that monetary policy would remain highly accommodative, and by the new UK government’s indications that it would not rush into exit negotiations.

Markets were mostly subdued in August as some measures of equity market volatility dropped against a backdrop of seasonally depressed trading volumes and supportive monetary policy announcements.

July saw global equities continue to shrug off the historic UK referendum decision to leave the European Union and post their strongest performance since March.

Second quarter ended on a volatile note for global capital markets as the uncertainty triggered by the United Kingdom’s vote on June 23 to exit the European Union weighed on the outlook.

Developed equities’ renewed outperformance of emerging markets stocks continued in May, as nearly all developed markets finished in the black for the month, while many emerging markets posted losses.

The recovery in risk assets that began in mid-February bifurcated in April. Commodities and commodity-related assets generated especially strong gains; the rally in global equities fizzled by comparison.

First quarter saw most global risk assets complete a round-trip retreat and recovery as heightened risks to financial markets emanating from China and commodity markets were met with fresh policy responses.

February’s market performance was a tale of two halves, with global risk assets experiencing a steep decline over the first two weeks before rallying to erase most of these losses.

The new year began with one of the worst starts to a calendar year for global equities, as markets fell sharply in the first three weeks of January before paring some losses into month-end.