Stocks on global markets have mostly firmed in the first three months of this year. The most followed US stock index S&P 500, gained 7.5 percent in the first quarter, while the European index Euro STOXX 50, gained almost 12 percent. A number of European stock indices reached historic highs, with technology titles, in particular, doing well, statistics show.
The US technology index Nasdaq has turned positive since the beginning of the year after a significant drop last year and is up 17.7 percent, said XTB analyst Štěpán Hájek. A number of European stock indices have reached all-time highs; he said, all amid a very strange environment for risk assets, he said. Germany’s DAX stock index rose 11.08 percent, while France’s CAC 40 index attacked all-time highs from which it fell slightly but has added 11.27 percent since the start of the year.
Technology companies, in particular, are doing well
So far this year, according to Raška, the shares of technology companies are doing well. Nvidia has gained 94 percent year-to-date, Meta Platforms nearly 70 percent, Tesla 92 percent, Salesforce 48 percent, and Apple 32 percent.
Pfizer wrote off 20.4 percent
“Those who shopped at the beginning of the year can wash their hands. The shares of pharmaceutical companies and banks are not doing well so far. Johnson & Johnson shares are down 13 percent year-to-date, and Pfizer shares are even worse off, having shed 20.4 percent since the start of the year. The shares of the failed SVB and Signature Bank lost virtually all of their value, and at the same time, these shares were withdrawn from trading on the stock exchange,” Raška pointed out.
The Euro STOXX 50 index, which tracks the 50 most valuable stocks in the eurozone, has gained 11.9 percent since the start of the year. “The EU banks are said to be in good shape and should not face any significant problems. Investors in European shares were thus only concerned about these problems in the short term, and the Euro STOXX 50 index soon returned to growth,” Raška noted.
Even Asia’s most followed stock indices started the year in the green. Investors are keen on Japanese stocks, with the Nikkei 225 index of the Tokyo Stock Exchange gaining nine percent since the start of the year. Shares traded on the Shanghai Stock Exchange also did well. China’s SSE Composite index gained more than five percent in the first quarter.
Source: CTK
