Shares lead slow-boat convoy

Predictably, over the following 12 months the US sharemarket rallied by 44 per cent.

However, midway through 2005 most financial markets are now well and truly in the doldrums with most returns comprising dividend income and little in the way of capital growth.

International shares lead the slow-boats with a 2.1 per cent return for the first six months of 2005, but New Zealand shares haven't offered much respite either with a 3.5 per cent gain in the half year, most of which will be due to dividends.

Global bonds, which can often be relied on to perform when shares don't, have really let the side down with the index off by 1.5 per cent in the period.

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