Global Equity Markets Show January Advance
Europe came out of the blocks strong in January, helping
to push the S&P/Citigroup Developed World Index to a 5%
advance for the first month of the year. The European Broad
Market Index (BMI) started off 2006 with a 6.98% hike
followed by Asia-Pacific and North America gains of 5.12%
and 3.9% respectively. On an individual country
basis, European countries posted the best returns in
January.
“Ignoring energy prices, investors seemed to have been
focused on a number of positive factors in January,”
said Nicholas Aninos, analyst at Standard & Poor’s
Index Services in an S&P news release. “In
Europe, production and unemployment numbers reported during
January were strong, as were consumer and business
confidence figures. The situation in the US was
similar, but only to a lesser degree, with the belief that
the Federal Reserve is nearing the end of its run on
interest rate increases.”
Emerging markets shot up 11.09% in the first month of the
year, as January represented the best monthly
performance for the S&P/Citigroup Emerging Markets
Index since January 2001. Brazil, Russia, China, and
South Africa were the main contributors to the strong
showing, showcasing returns of 24.67%, 19.96%, 14.91% and
14.89% respectively. Only Taiwan and Jordan lost
ground during January, with Taiwan actually up when
measured in US dollars.
Sectors, as defined by the Global Industry Classification
Standard (GICS), saw Energy finish up 13.28% in
January. The Energy sector performance was widespread
as each sub-industry posted strong returns, with a
significant number of companies showing gains of more than
20%. The Materials sector, which rose 9.9% during the
month, was the next best performing GICS sector.
More information is at
www.standardandpoors.com
.
You Might Also Like:
Investment Product & Service Launches
Investment Product and Service Launches
Real Asset Allocations in Target-Date Funds
« BofA Shareholders Turn Down Regulatory Study Committee Formation