Financial year a bottler of sorts IT WAS the year the market roared back as the world's foremost central banker hit the accelerator, only to falter as he put his toe to the brake. Faced with a jobless rate lingering above 8 per cent in his homeland and a stalling recovery on share markets globally, Ben Bernanke did what he does best - print money. It was September last year that the US Federal Reserve chairman dramatically increased his bond-buying program to $US85 billion a month. With the printing press in overdrive, the central bank snapped up assets - mostly government bonds - with even more fervour, sending a wave of money cascading through the US economy. Two months earlier, on the other side of the Atlantic, European Central Bank president Mario Draghi had promised to do "whatever it takes" to keep the eurozone together. Buoyed by a two-pronged campaign to lift animal spirits, investors around the globe responded. The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged more than 15 per cent from September to climb above 15000 points last month. Australia's benchmark index, the ASX 200, rocketed further still, climbing 26 per cent from last July to last month, when it hit 5220 points. "It was a very eventful financial year," says Equity Trustees chief investment officer George Boubouras. The US and Europe were supportive of markets "for most of the past year," he says. But as champagne corks popped, the whispers started. Surely, said many analysts, Dr Bernanke feared the long-term impact of his move to sprinkle ever more sugar over the market. As the whispers grew, flummoxed investors sold. And they continued selling when Dr Bernanke confirmed the money press would indeed slow and, ultimately, stop next year if the US economy kept recovering. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped almost 5 per cent in a month while the ASX 200 plunged more than 10 per cent over the same period. Despite the slides, the Australian index has chalked up its best year since 2007 - the year marking the eve of the financial crisis - when it surged 19.1 per cent. For the year finishing this weekend, the ASX 200 rallied 17.3 per cent. Last year it fell 11.1 per cent. But analysts say questions remain and nerves are still frayed. CommSec economist Savanth Sebastian labels the financial year the classic "game of two halves." We forget that when the Fed came out with QE3 (the third round of so-called quantitative easing) it wasn't that long ago. Now they are talking about pulling that apart. Most analysts say there are nonetheless clear skies ahead for equities in Australia, with the market supported by a falling Australian dollar and an official interest rate at historic lows. Reserve Bank chairman Glenn Stevens and his fellow directors have cut the cash rate aggressively - by 0.75 percentage points to 2.75 per cent -- in an attempt to prop up the economy as the mining investment boom petered out. Mr Sebastian says that for the year ahead, the economy "is fundamentally sound." "The lack of confidence is the only thing holding us back," he says. That will probably turn after the election, which is what happened in the US last year. CMC Markets economist Michael McCarthy broadly agrees, saying that while it is "not boom times" in Australia, "the doomsayers have been confounded again and again." The lingering question is just how quickly the US unplugs the printing press. Mr Boubouras cautions that investors should be ready for more volatility. "The bumpy ride looks set to continue leading into the August reporting period as markets go through the adjustment phase given the prospect of the Federal Reserve tapering the current stimulus program," he says. He argues share prices "look compelling following the recent correction." Mr McCarthy cautions investors against trying to read the Fed's tea leaves. "The central bankers are engaged in an exercise which is very difficult, forecasting the implications of today's actions," he says. They will not be able to tell if they have it right until years down the track.