ANZ Australia And New Zealand Banking Group Limited

[Dow Jones] As U.S. stocks charged higher in 2014, Australia's stock market had its worst year in three years. But CommSec thinks the year ahead will be a better one for Australian equities. "After under-performing in 2014, we tip the ASX 200 to end 2015 between 5,900-6,200 with total returns around 15%," says Craig James, chief economist at CommSec. "As a result 10-year and 15-year average returns on shares will be around 10%." He says the share market will be supported by "favourable" valuations, strong corporate balance sheets, solid U.S. economic growth, a switch of investor appetite to shares from property and the continued maturing of the Chinese economy. The main risks: the health of oil-producing economies following the slide in oil prices; deflation risks in developed economies; the state of the euro zone; and the U.S. correctly timing the start of any rate increases. S&P/ASX 200 trades down 0.2% at 5402.9. (rhiannon.hoyle@wsj.com; Twitter: @RhiannonHoyle)

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