Global Stocks Through May 26: Nikkei Surges, Sensex Falls

Through the close of trading on May 26, 2026, Japan’s Nikkei 225 leads a nine-index global watchlist with a 29.1% year-to-date gain. Seven of the nine indexes tracked are in positive territory. India’s BSE SENSEX is the laggard, down 10.8% for the year. Germany’s price-only DAXK is down 0.1%. The U.S. S&P 500 is up 9.8% and Canada’s TSX has gained 9.3% year-to-date.

The watchlist covers the S&P 500, TSX, FTSE 100, DAXK, CAC 40, Nikkei 225, Shanghai Composite, Hang Seng and BSE SENSEX. All results reflect market closes through May 26, 2026.

For consistency, the German index is tracked as DAXK, a price-only series that excludes dividends to match the other indexes. Charts accompanying the update use three reference start dates: Feb. 3, 2020 (the official U.S. recession start), March 9, 2009 (a common market low across several indexes) and Oct. 9, 2007 (an earlier peak). Each index is re-scaled to a base value of 800 at the chosen start date and plotted on a logarithmic vertical axis.

The update records the exact low dates during the global downturns: S&P 500, TSX, CAC 40 and BSE SENSEX hit lows on March 9, 2009; Nikkei 225 on March 10, 2009; DAXK on March 6, 2009; FTSE 100 on March 3, 2009; Shanghai Composite on Nov. 4, 2008; and Hang Seng on Oct. 27, 2008.

Supplementary material includes a table showing each index’s current level, all-time high, date of that high and the percentage gap from the record high. The update also provides longer-term charts starting at the turn of the century to compare market performance across multiple cycles.

The report lists several single-country ETFs for direct market exposure, including WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund (DXJ), WisdomTree Europe Hedged Equity Fund (HEDJ), KraneShares CSI China Internet ETF (KWEB), iShares MSCI India ETF (INDA), iShares MSCI Hong Kong ETF (EWH), iShares MSCI Canada ETF (EWC) and SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY).