The recent trend has reflected a number of specific and transient influences, such as the high basis for comparison of the same months of 2012, the appreciation of the peso, the normalization of previous shocks to the prices of some perishables, and the stamp tax reduction. These effects have also been expressed through indexation mechanisms and expectations, and in the moderate services inflation rates despite strong demand and tight domestic markets. Other more lasting effects cannot be ruled out, such as the observed increase in productivity or the reduction in trade margins. In any case, the procyclical behavior of these elements leads to conclude that the medium-term inflationary risks associated to the intensity of use of installed capacity are still present. However, it is worth noting that private expectations one and two years out remain anchored around 3%. Internationally, the outlook of slow growth in developed economies is maintained, but with some improvements. In the U.S. there are signs that private spending is gaining momentum, but growth prospects remain bounded because of the need for further fiscal adjustments. The Eurozone is still in recession and its recovery is being held back by the need to advance towards fiscal consolidation, persistent problems in the financial systems and the difficulty in making the necessary relative-price adjustments within the region. Plus the political difficulties to implement reforms that would allow raising trend growth rates. The emerging world continues to exhibit higher growth rates, although its performance has been more mixed.
Charles Dow himself chose these stocks, nine of them being railroad companies, the key growth industry at the time. Over time, he would revise the index as he saw appropriate to be reflective of ongoing market and industry developments. Ladies and Gentlemen, The construction and use of benchmark market indices today has undergone much advancement since then. Indeed, financial markets have undergone dramatic transformation. Economic, industry, and corporate expansion; the sophistication, proliferation and diversity of instruments; the expanding investment communities are all factors that have led to an increase in the number of benchmark indices and their greater use. Benchmark committees deliberate over the construction of the index and determine the rules of the benchmark. Investors need the benchmark indices to be used as performance indicators of the broad market and for an indication of the market direction and investors' sentiment on the corporate sector and economy. The representative stocks within a benchmark index need to be highly liquid and reflective of the key corporate sectors that drive growth in the economy. At the same time the index should also reflect the underlying changes in the economy incorporating the emergence of new industries. Thus, for an index to be a useful benchmark and to be used as a reference by investors and market players, the index needs to be regularly reviewed and adjusted accordingly in line with market developments and the transformations taking place in the economy. Indeed, benchmark market indices would reflect the broader investor participation and growing maturity of a markets.