Courtesy of Doug Short
Except for the fractional gain of 0.23% for the Nikkei 225, all of the major world markets in this series lost ground over the past week. The Hang Seng suffered the largest decline, down 2.31%, with the S&P a mere 0.07% higher. The Shanghai, BSE SENSEX and DAX kept their losses to a fractional percent — 0.84%, 0.59% and 0.55%, respectively.
The chart below illustrates the comparative performance of World Markets since March 9, 2009. The start date is arbitrary: The S&P 500 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.
A Longer Look Back
Here is the same chart starting from the turn of 21st century. The relative out-performance of the emerging markets (Shanghai, Mumbai, Hang Seng) is readily apparent.
