By
Steve Muchoki
April 16th, 2024
While the growth of economies is tied to these vaccines’ timely distributions, the markets will attempt to trail and break new territories with this headstart into the year.
The global stock markets opened to a bullish lift on Monday, the very first trading day of the New Year. MSCI’s All-Country World Index, which tracks stocks across 49 countries, hit a record high and was up nearly half a percent on the day after the start of trading in London, according to Reuters.
The S&P 500 Index (INDEXSP: .INX) surged by 0.64% to 3,756.07, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDEXDJX: .DJI) edged higher with 0.65% to 30,606.48 while the Nasdaq Composite (INDEXNASDAQ: .IXIC) was not left behind in the bullish rally as it gained 0.14% to 12,888.28. In Europe, the STOXX Europe 600 (INDEXSTOXX: SXXP), an index that tracks the top stocks across Europe saw a gain of 1.62% to 405.49.
Other European stock indices also show impressive performance with the United Kingdom’s FTSE 100 Index (INDEXFTSE: UKX) up by 2.74%, Germany’s DAX PERFORMANCE-INDEX (INDEXDB: DAX) up by 1.31%, Spain’s IBEX 35 (INDEXBME: IB) and Italy’s FTSE MIB (INDEXBIT: FTSEMIB) adding 1.05% in gains.
Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) also lead the rallies in the cryptocurrency ecosystem with growths of 13.35% and 32.78% in the past week respectively according to data from the CoinMarketCap.
The general growth seen across these markets is driven in part by the optimism in the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccines, which potentially signals an end to the economy melting pandemic.
“Covid cases and vaccine distribution will remain the key focus for investors for now,” said Kerry Craig, global market strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management. “Without the wide distribution of vaccines, the paths of Covid and the economy are locked together, given the impact on social mobility and economic curtailment. This link will be broken as immunity levels rise into the middle of the year, but until then the economic path will be bumpy over the first quarter.”
While the growth of economies is tied to these vaccines’ timely distributions, the markets will attempt to trail and break new territories with this headstart into the year.
Stock Markets and Firms Driving the Growth
The stock markets particularly the bourses with the recorded growths have key firms driving their growths. In the UK for instance, Entain PLC (LON: ENT), the parent company of the popular sports betting company Ladbrokes is up by 28% to GBP1,451.00 after the company confirmed the takeover offer from MGM Resorts International per a CNBC report.
The shares of TUI AG (ETR: TUI1), an Anglo-German multinational travel and tourism company with its base of operations in Hanover, Germany also surged as much as 6.4% to drive the rally in the German DAX.
While the entire market is starting off the year with promising growths, all eyes are further on the progression of the trading activities between the EU and UK, following the Brexit trade agreements signed on New Year’s Eve. The adherence to the pact will further have an impact on the European and British stocks and markets alike.