A stronger Australian dollar sent shares spinning into New Year’s Eve, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index falling 1.8 per cent, or 121 points, to close the decade at 6684 points. In total around $36 billion in value was wiped from the market.

Including dividends reinvested, the index finished the year 25 per cent higher and the post-GFC decade 146 per cent higher.

Globally share markets will finish the decade touching record highs with the MSCI All-World Index up 24 per cent in 2019.

Australian dollar tops US70¢

Local companies that lose out from a weaker US dollar led the market lower, as the Australian dollar hit its highest level versus the greenback since July 2019.

Large cap US dollar earners Brambles, Computershare and James Hardie all lost more than 1.8 per cent. While healthcare giants CSL, ResMed and Cochlear were marked down 2.1 per cent or more.

Overseas the tech-heavy NASDAQ Index fell 0.7 per cent overnight to add to the pain for local tech businesses with US dollar earnings. Appen, Altium and Pro Medicus shed 4.2 per cent, 3.9 per cent and 8.9 per cent respectively. While Technology One and WiseTech Global both tumbled more than 5 per cent on a jumpy end to the year for investors.

Among the blue chips, the big banks all lost ground. While communications giant Telstra dropped 2.8 per cent to $3.54. Other blue-chip bond proxies Transurban and Sydney Airport added to losses since the US and China announced their intention to sign a phase one trade deal.

Gold climbs near 52-week highs

On the other side of the ledger, gold miners dominated the leaderboard, as gold prices shadowed multi-year highs on bets inflation reappears in 2020.

Gold heavyweights Newcrest Mining and Northern Star Resources finished around 1 per cent higher, while juniors Saracen Minerals, Evolution Mining, Gold Road and Resolute Mining all advanced more than 1.9 per cent.

US dollar priced gold will close 2019 around 18 per cent higher.

Looking ahead, JP Morgan’s Global Market Strategist, Hannah Morgan, is optimistic 2020 could be a reasonable year for equity investors despite risks around geopolitics.

“Returns will depend on just how tolerant investors can be of their fears in a low growth world. Looking at their response to admittedly scary headlines over 2019, it seems investors will take what good news they can get and continue to bid up risk assets.”

This story originally appeared in the Australian Financial Review. Read the original story here.

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