March saw the UK stock market continue its strong start to the year as investors brushed aside the headline-grabbing events in Cyprus, where a controversial bailout was needed to avoid the collapse of its banking sector.

The FTSE All Share index, which is considered to be the best performance measure of the overall UK stock market, rose by 1.4%^[1] in March on a total return basis (includes dividends). It was the tenth consecutive month the index has risen and it is up by 10.3% year-to-date.