World Markets Update: 7 Of 8 World Indexes Show Gains
Doug Short | Mar 22, 2015 12:35AM ET
Seven of the eight indexes on my world market watch list posted weekly gains, with China's Shanghai Composite as the top performer, up 7.25%, and that follows its 4.06% top finish the previous week. India's SENSEX was the worst performer, down -0.85%, not as bad as its -3.21% last place finish the week before. The general skew was strongly positive, with the average of the eight coming in at 2.48%, the second highest of 2015, the first being the 3.37% average for the week ending January 23rd.
Here is an overlay of the eight for a sense of their comparative performance so far in 2015.
Here is a table of the 2015 data performance, sorted from high to low, along with the interim highs for the eight indexes. All eight indexes are in the green, with Germany's DAX up a whopping 22.41% and France's CAC 40 up 19.07%. The US's S&P 500 is up 2.39% -- quite respectable, but the weakest 2015 performer.
A Closer Look at the Last Four Weeks
The tables below provide a concise overview of performance comparisons over the past four weeks (through year's end) for these eight major indexes. I've also included the average for each week so that we can evaluate the performance of a specific index relative to the overall mean and better understand weekly volatility. The colors for each index name help us visualize the comparative performance over time.
The chart below illustrates the comparative performance of World Markets since March 9, 2009. The start date is arbitrary: The S&P 500, CAC 40 and BSE SENSEX hit their lows on March 9th, the Nikkei 225 on March 10th, the DAX on March 6th, the FTSE on March 3rd, the Shanghai Composite on November 4, 2008, and the Hang Seng even earlier on October 27, 2008. However, by aligning on the same day and measuring the percent change, we get a better sense of the relative performance than if we align the lows.
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A Longer Look Back
Here is the same chart starting from the turn of 21st century. The relative over-performance of the emerging markets (Shanghai, Mumbai SENSEX and Hang Seng) up to their 2007 peaks is evident, and the SENSEX remains by far the top performer. The Shanghai, in contrast, formed a perfect Eiffel Tower from late 2006 to late 2009.
Check back next week for a new update.
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