Few could have predicted the Aussie share market would return 24 per cent in a world where the word “mask” is more popular than the word “beer”.

But another financial year has come and gone and equity markets everywhere are rebounding from the lows of the pandemic.

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We’ve looked through the data and put together nine charts that tell the year's story as well as its best and worst performers.

 

The S&P/ASX 200 returned 24 per cent this financial year, 27.8 if dividends are included.

This financial year’s return is almost five times larger the 3-year annualised return for the index.

The consumer discretionary, financial, and industrial sectors soared as the economy reopened and people spent lockdown savings on everything from breadmakers to new houses.

The ASX 200 Financials sector return this year is roughly 23 times the 3-year average, and 15 times the 5-year average.

Energy has finally had some good news and the 5-year annualised return is almost back at zero.

 

For individual stock performance we use the Morningstar Australia Index, which measures the performance of Australia's equity markets, targeting the top 97% of stocks by market capitalization.

Well-known names such as Appen (ASX: APX), AGL (ASX: AGL), AMP (ASX: AMP) and TPG (ASX: TPG) all earnt a wooden spoon this year.

Several small miners struck gold. Lithium miner Pilbara Minerals (ASX: PLS) was carried to a stomping 522.6 per cent return on a wave of enthusiasm for electric vehicles and batteries.