In a year characterised by a series of shocks and sharp reversals of fortunes, many shareholders will remember 2016 as the year Australia's miners roared back to life after a painfully long period in the doldrums.
It may also be the case that in 2016 a three-decade-plus bull market in bonds finally met its end. Investors dumped bonds at an accelerating pace in the final months of the year amid a general feeling that central banks' extraordinary monetary policies, such as negative rates and massive bond buying programs, had become counterproductive.
Beyond our shores, the biggest events for the year were political, as a wave of popular discontent pushed the UK out of the European Union and resulted in the election of Donald Trump as the most unlikely US president in history. But in a surprise within a surprise, those shocks served to bolster rather than bomb global sharemarkets, as US and British bourses ended the year at historic highs.
In a final, shortened session on Friday, the S&P;/ASX 200 index slipped 0.6 per cent to 5665.8 points, capping an impressive annual gain of 7 per cent. Including dividends, that brought the benchmark measure's total return to 11.8 per cent in 2016 - an upbeat result that looked unlikely this time last year.
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To frame the scale of the turnaround for the ASX in 2016, the top 200 index dropped below 4800 points in February, as jitters around China, gnawing fears of a US recession, and plunging commodity prices spooked investors around the world. At that stage, and after two years of disappointing returns, Aussie shareholders could have been excused for expecting the worst for the year.
Instead, major commodity prices staged a remarkable turnaround. After hitting what proved to be their lows in January, iron ore and oil prices roughly doubled over the rest of the year, to last fetch $US80/tonne and $US56/barrel, respectively, bringing their annual gains to 84 per cent and 53 per cent. Even more remarkable were the moves in coking coal, used in steel manufacturing, which tripled in price, while energy-producing thermal coal jumped 74 per cent.
A fresh wave of government stimulus in Australia's biggest export partner, China, helped drive commodity prices higher, as did curtailing of supply among the world's largest producers. The effect was electric on ASX-listed miners. Materials were by far the best performing sector on the ASX, adding an incredible 40 per cent over the year, led by the likes of Fortescue Metals, which jumped 215 per cent, South32, which surged 160 per cent, and Whitehaven Coal, which rocketed 270 per cent.
BHP Billiton was the single biggest contributor the ASX's gains in 2016, as it climbed 40 per cent, while Rio Tinto was close behind at 34 per cent. Gold miners also put in impressive gains. Despite a slump from early July, the precious metal ended the year up 8 per cent in US dollar terms. That elicited an outsized response from gold miners, as the All Ordinaries Gold Index finished up 54 per cent for the year. Resolute Mining was the second best performing stock in the top 200, surging 420 per cent, while the sector's biggest plater, Newcrest Mining, jumped 56 per cent.
Energy stocks also had a stellar year, with Origin Energy jumping 40 per cent and AGL Energy up 22 per cent
Following a difficult 2015, the heavyweight big four banks trod divergent paths in 2016. ANZ Banking Group climbed 8.9 per cent over the year and NAB 5.1 per cent. But Westpac fell 2.9 per cent and Commonwealth Bank lost 3.7 per cent.
In keeping with a year of changing fortunes, a number of ASX roosters turned into feather dusters in 2016. Vitamins manufacturer Blackmores lost half its market value, Bega Cheese dropped 43 per cent and infant formula maker Bellamy's fell 51 per cent and remains in a trading halt after booming Chinese consumer demand turned to bust, leaving shareholders in the former market darling wondering what's next.
Telecommunications also had a difficult year, with Telstra the largest single weight on the ASX 200 index as it dropped 9.1 per cent. Smaller rivals also did it tough, with Vocus Communications off 49 per cent to be one of the year's worst performers.
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