World’s Developed and Emerging Equity Markets Fall in August
The world’s developed and emerging equity markets both lost ground in August, and have now produced double digit, negative returns over the past three-months. According to Standard & Poor’s monthly stock market review, The World by Numbers, developed equity markets lost 1.56% in August and have fallen 11.55% over the past three months. The world’s emerging equity markets have fared even worse, falling 7.09% in August and 19.40% over the past three months.
“Global equity markets continued their dramatic decline that began in mid-May, decreasing investor net-worth in August by $0.8 trillion,” says Howard Silverblatt, Senior Index Analyst at Standard & Poor’s and author of the report. “Year-to-date through August, investor net worth has declined by $6.4 trillion.”
Emerging markets posted their fourth monthly loss in a row (six out of eight for 2008) declining 7.09% in August. The three-month toll is now -19.40%, with the 12-month period now posting a -7.27% decline. Only the Philippines (+1.68%) and Thailand (+0.90%) managed to produce positive gains in August. Pakistan declined 20.57% as political unrest continued, while Russia declined 15.23%. Developed equity markets (-1.56%) did not fare much better in August as only the United States (+1.54%) and the Netherlands (+0.85%) produced positive returns during the month.
Six of the ten GICS sectors declined in August as Materials posted a -6.99% return. Consumer Discretionary in the U.S. rebounded to produce a return of 1.89%, but the ex/U.S. component of the group was off 1.99% for the month.
Growth and Value were both down in August, but performance was split by region. Growth’s overall 1.60% decline during the month was the result of a 6.63% drop in the Asian Pacific market and a 1.46% gain in the North American region. Value saw similar results, declining 1.50% during the month with Asia Pacific down 4.46% and North America up 0.92%.
“U.S. decoupling, which was generally accepted late last year/early this year, has now been reversed with pundits again speaking about size, leadership, and the American economy’s ability to ride out the storm.”
The World by Numbers for August can be accessed in full by going to: www.worldbynumbers.standardandpoors.com. In addition, a table showing the performance of the S&P/Citigroup BMI Index can be found at the conclusion of this release.
S&P/Citigroup BMI Total Returns*
August - 08
1-Month % 3-Months % 12-Months %
France -3.01 -14.68 -12.96
Germany -5.90 -14.53 -9.54
Japan -4.16 -13.60 -15.92
United Kingdom -3.01 -12.76 -17.25
United States 1.54 -7.40 -9.78
Asia Pacific -4.45 -17.39 -15.87
Europe -13.74 -26.40 -10.21
North America 1.20 -7.89 -8.91
Dev. World -1.56 -11.55 -12.09
Brazil -10.04 -24.38 21.50
China -7.82 -17.76 -19.80
India -1.35 -15.19 -10.83
Russia -15.23 -33.30 -11.23
South Africa -4.51 -11.25 -8.18
Taiwan -1.35 -18.39 -16.29
Emerging Markets -7.09 -19.40 -7.27
*Country returns in $US
Source: Standard & Poor's
Data as of: 8/31/08
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Standard & Poor’s Index Services, the world’s leading index provider, maintains a wide variety of investable and benchmark indices to meet an array of investor needs. Its family of indices includes the S&P 500, an index with $1.5 trillion invested and $4.85 trillion benchmarked, and the S&P Global 1200, a composite index comprised of seven regional and country headline indices. For more information, please visit www.standardandpoors.com/indices.
Source: Standard & Poor’s