How your investments fared in the first quarter
WORDS ON WEALTH:
Equity markets continued their upward trajectory during the first quarter 2021 to the end of March. The FTSE/JSE All Share Index was up almost 13% over the three-month period and up 52% for the 12 months to the end of March. Admittedly, the 52% rise was off a low base: the JSE had, in March last year, suffered one of the steepest plunges in its history, from about 58 000 points to about 38 000, a drop of 34%. Nonetheless, after treading water around 58 000 for months and even years before the pandemic, the Alsi was at 66 500 at the end of March, a rise of almost 15% from pre-pandemic times.