Markets withstand COVID-19 volatility
Only two major stockmarkets ended the year in negative territory, according to FE Analytics, despite a global pandemic causing disruption to markets.
Data from 1 January, 2020, to 31 December, 2020, found the ASX 200 returned 1.4% during the period while its small-cap counterpart the ASX Small Ordinaries index rose by 9.2%.
The best-performing market over the year was the Nasdaq which rose 35.6% thanks to its high weighting to technology stocks which were winners during the year due to remote working and stay-at-home restrictions.
The two markets which reported negative returns were the UK’s FTSE 100 which lost 16.8% and the Dow Jones Composite index which lost 0.33%.
The third major US index, S&P 500, returned 7.2% with US President Donald Trump regularly commenting on how the US stockmarket was reaching record highs last year.
In Asian markets, the Shanghai Composite index in China had returned 10.4% with China being the first region out of the pandemic. Japan’s TOPIX index returned 2.5% while the Nikkei rose 11.4%.
AUTHOR
Laura Dew
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