Global equity markets bounced back last month after January’s declines, with the exception of the United States, which declined 2.87 per cent, according to research house Standard and Poor’s (S&P) global stock market review.
In contrast to January, where all 26 developed markets were negative, 19 of the 26 markets returned to positive territory with an average gain of 2.43 per cent in February.
S&P senior index analyst Howard Silverblatt said declines in US markets, which represent about 40 per cent of the global equity market, can be attributed to several factors.
“We believe its 2.87 per cent decline for the month is mostly due to the decline of the dollar, fears over a perceived US recession and a general belief that US growth will be substantially lower than most emerging countries,” he said.
Emerging equity markets gained 7.65 per cent to return to positive territory and developed economies posted a slight decline in February of -0.12 per cent compared to January’s return of -7.83 per cent.
