EU needs to kick austerity obsession

After an incredibly difficult start to the year, global equity market performance picked up substantially during March.

As we reach the end of the first quarter all of the key equity market indices are still in negative territory, but the numbers are a lot less negative than they were towards the end of February. Year to date, the US S&P 500 is down just 3.3%; the German Dax is down 6.9%; the UK FTSE is down 7.8%; and the Iseq has shed 6.8%.

This represents a good performance given the intense uncertainty that has prevailed in relation to China and the emerging markets in particular, but also in relation to the moribund eurozone economy.