Straits Times Index has not been performing well so far in 2018. Year-to-date, it has dropped 7.1% and touched a one-year low of 3,103 on 11 Sept, and rebounded slightly to close at 3,161 last Friday.
Similarly, other main index in Asia had also done poorly. In fact, fared worse than STI. Hang Seng Index has dropped 12.8% this year, while Shanghai Composite has plunged 19.9% in 2018. Not a pretty sight.
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STI (Black), Hang Seng (Orange), Shanghai Composite (Blue) year-to-date performance. Source: Bloomberg.com |
So assuming you have started investing not too long ago in 2017, such volatility may be a rude shock as opposed to the smooth rising market we witnessed last year. And if you have bought into many stocks start of the year and are staring at some hefty paper loss, these are actually reminders that market can be merciless with its wild ......