BEL 20 Dec '24 (BEZ24)

Description

World stocks - World stock markets in 2023 closed higher as the world's key central banks stopped raising interest rates, leading to market hopes for interest rate cuts in 2024. The markets were also pleased with the resiliency of the world economy to the US interest rate hikes seen from early 2022 through mid-2023. The MSCI World Index, a benchmark for large companies based in 23 developed countries, rose by +21.8% in 2023, reversing the -19.5% decline seen in 2022.

Small-Capitalization Stocks - The MSCI World Small-Cap Index, which tracks companies with market caps between $200 million and $1.5 billion, rose by +13.8% in 2023, reversing part of the -20.1% decline in 2022. The MSCI World Small-Cap Index in 2023 underperformed the +21.8% gain in the large-cap MSCI World Index. Small caps in 2023 under-performed the large-caps for the third consecutive year and have now underperformed large-caps in five of the last six years.

World Industry Groups - All but two of the ten MSCI industry groups rose in 2023. The two sectors that fell were the Utilities and Energy sectors. The ranked returns of the sectors in 2023 were as follows: Information Technology (+52.3%), Telecom (+44.0%), Consumer Discretionary (+33.6%), Industrials (+21.2%), Financials (+13.1%), Materials (+11.7%), Health Care (+2.4%), Consumer Staples (+0.1%), Energy (-0.7%), and Utilities (-2.5%).

Emerging markets - The MSCI Emerging Markets Free Index, which tracks companies based in 26 emerging countries, rose by +7.0% in 2023, reversing part of the declines of -4.6% in 2021 and -22.4% in 2022. The +7.0% gain in emerging market stocks in 2023 was much less than the +21.8% gain seen in the MSCI World Index.

G7 - The G7 stock markets in 2023 all closed higher. Japan's Nikkei Index showed the largest gain, while the UK FTSE 100 index showed the smallest gain. The ranked returns of the G-7 countries were as follows: Japan's Nikkei Index (+28.2%), Italy's MIB index (+28.0%), US S&P 500 index (+24.2%), German Dax index (+20.3%), French CAC-40 (+16.5%), Canada's Toronto Composite index (+8.1%), and UK FTSE 100 index (+3.8%).

North America - In North America, the US S&P 500 index in 2023 showed the largest gain by rising +24.2%, followed by Mexico's Bolsa index with a +18.4% gain, and Canada's Toronto Composite index with a +8.1% gain.

Latin America - The Latin American stock markets in 2023 closed mixed. The ranked returns in 2023 were as follows: Argentina's Merval Index +360.1%, Brazil's Bovespa Index +22.3%, Peru's Lima General Index +21.7%, Chile's Stock Market Select Index +17.8%, Ecuador's Guayaqui Bolsa Index -6.8%, Colombia's General Index -7.1%, and Jamaica's Stock Exchange Index -8.5%.

Europe - European stocks in 2023 showed strength as the European Central Bank halted its series of interest rate hikes, and the market hoped for interest rate cuts in 2024. The Euro Stoxx 50 index in 2023 rose by +12.1%, more than reversing the -4.4% decline in 2022. The ranked European returns in 2023 were as follows: Italian MIB index +28.0%, Spanish IBEX 35 index +22.8%, German Dax index +20.3%, French CAC-40 index +16.5%, and UK FTSE 100 index +3.8%.

Asia - The Asian-Pacific stock markets in 2023 closed higher on balance. The MSCI Far East Index in 2023 rose by +15.9%, reversing the -14.8% decline in 2022. The ranked returns for the Asian-Pacific stock markets in 2023 were as follows: Pakistan's 100 Index +54.3%, Japan's Nikkei 225 Index +28.2%, Taiwan's TAIEX Index +26.8%, India's Mumbai Sensex 30 index +18.7%, South Korea's Composite Index +18.7%, Vietnam's Stock Index +12.2%, Australia's All-Ordinaries Index +8.4%, Indonesia's Jakarta Composite Index +6.2%, New Zealand's Exchange 50 Index +2.6%, Singapore's Straights Times Index -0.3%, Philippines' Composite index -1.8%, Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur Composite index -2.7%, China's Shanghai Composite Index -3.7%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng -13.8%, and Thailand's Stock Exchange index -15.2%.

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