World shares are down about 8% so far this year, but the world equity index is up 17.5% this quarter
A sign sits on a wall at the London Stock Exchange Group Plc headquarter offices in the City of London, UK. Picture: BLOOMBERG/CHRIS J RATCLIFFE
World shares are down about 8% so far this year, having slumped 35% between February 20 and March 23 in the most destructive sell-off since the Great Depression. But the world equity index is up 17.5% this quarter — on track for its biggest quarterly gain since the third quarter of 2009. “Asset markets are looking beyond Covid-19 stats,” said Neil Jones, head of forex sales at Mizuho Bank. “There’s some expectation of containment and then, further down the line, an expectation of some form of measure to combat the virus.”
London’s FTSE 100 was down 0.7%. Britain’s economy shrank by the most since 1979 in early 2020 as households slashed their spending, according to official data that included the first few days of the coronavirus lockdown. The euro was down about 0.2% against the dollar, at $1.1221, while the riskier Australian and New Zealand dollars also edged down.
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