World Equity Markets Continue Downturn in June

As in May, S&P attributed the continued downturn to rising interest rates. “Interest rates, with the implied increase in inflation, continue to be the leading cause of concern for the world’s equity markets,” said Howard Silverblatt, Senior Index Analyst at Standard & Poor’s, in a news release.

By sector, Consumer Staples was the best performer in June, gaining 1.39% for the month, according to the release. The Energy sector posted a 1.20% gain for the month and a 25.74% return for the 12-month period ending in June. Information Technology was the worst performing sector during the month, losing 1.57% and posting an 8.32% 3-month loss.

In US Dollars, Singapore was the best performing developed world stock market in June, returning 1.93%, followed by Spain with a 1.23% gain.  Iceland was the developed world stock market with the biggest loss, losing 10.03%.

In emerging markets, Nigeria had the strongest returns in June with a 7.51% gain, followed by Argentina, which was up 6.69% for the month. The worst performing emerging market in June was Columbia with a loss of 17.53%.

The complete World by Numbers report can be found on www.standardandpoors.com .