Our global markets watchlist tracks nine prominent indexes from economies around the world. This comprehensive list includes the S&P 500 from the United States, TSX from Canada, FTSE 100 from England, DAXK from Germany, CAC 40 from France, Nikkei 225 from Japan, Shanghai Composite from China, Hang Seng from Hong Kong, and BSE SENSEX from India. For insights into how emerging markets are performing globally, check out our emerging markets update.
As of September 29, 2025, all nine indexes on our world markets watchlist have posted gains. Leading the pack is Hong Kong’s Hang Seng, boasting a remarkable year-to-date gain of 37.4%. Following closely is Canada’s TSX with a gain of 22.6%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 stands at 20.2%. Conversely, India’s BSE SENSEX has recorded the smallest gain this year, currently at just 2.3%.
To provide additional context on the performance of these indexes relative to their historical peaks, the table below displays each index’s current value, its all-time peak, the date of that peak, and the distance from that record level.
World Indexes and Recent Recessions
We begin with a recent chart reflecting the latest recession, using February 3, 2020, as our starting date, which marks the official NBER recession onset.
The following chart illustrates the comparative performance of world markets since March 9, 2009. This date is significant as the S&P 500, TSX, CAC 40, and BSE SENSEX reached their lows on that day, while the Nikkei 225 hit its low on March 10, the DAXK on March 6, the FTSE on March 3, the Shanghai Composite on November 4, 2008, and the Hang Seng even earlier on October 27, 2008. By aligning these dates and using a log-scale vertical axis, we can visualize the relative performance effectively. Each index is indexed to 800 on the March 9th start date, with the callout in the upper left corner indicating the percent change from that date to the latest weekly close.
Next, we present the same visualization starting on October 9, 2007, which marks a previous closing high for the S&P 500. This date also represents approximately the midpoint of the range of market peaks, beginning on June 1st for the CAC 40 and concluding on January 8, 2008, for the SENSEX.
For a broader perspective on relative performance, our final chart begins at the turn of the century, again indexing each at 800 for the start date.
Examples of single country ETFs:
Note: I track Germany’s DAXK, a price-only index, instead of the more familiar DAX index (which includes dividends), for consistency with the other indexes, which do not include dividends.
Originally published on Advisor Perspectives
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