Midyear Markets: Nikkei Up 31.8%, S&P 500 Gains, Sensex Lags

Through June 1, 2026, Japan’s Nikkei 225 led a nine-index watchlist with a 31.8% year-to-date gain. The S&P 500 rose 11.0% and Canada’s TSX rose 9.5%. India’s BSE Sensex was the weakest performer, down 12.9%. Five of the nine tracked indexes were in positive territory.

The watchlist covers the S&P 500 (U.S.), TSX (Canada), FTSE 100 (U.K.), DAXK (Germany, price-only), CAC 40 (France), Nikkei 225 (Japan), Shanghai Composite (China), Hang Seng (Hong Kong) and BSE Sensex (India). Through the period, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declined 1.8% and Germany’s DAXK slipped 0.5%.

The update compares current index values with their all-time highs and records the date of each peak and the distance from that peak. Charts align markets on common start dates and use a logarithmic vertical axis to show relative performance. One chart indexes each market to 800 on March 9, 2009 and reports percentage changes to the latest weekly close. Another chart uses October 9, 2007 as a common high-point anchor. A longer-term view begins at the turn of the century with the same indexing method.

For the recent recession reference, the start date used is February 3, 2020. Individual market troughs fell on different dates: the S&P 500, TSX, CAC 40 and BSE Sensex hit their lows on March 9, 2009; the Nikkei on March 10, 2009; the DAXK on March 6, 2009; the FTSE on March 3, 2009; the Shanghai Composite on November 4, 2008; and the Hang Seng on October 27, 2008. Aligning those trough dates provides a view of relative recoveries.

The report notes the use of a price-only German index, DAXK, to keep dividend treatment consistent across series. Examples of exchange-traded funds that track single-country exposure include SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY), iShares MSCI Canada ETF (EWC), WisdomTree Japan Hedged Equity Fund (DXJ), WisdomTree Europe Hedged Equity Fund (HEDJ), KraneShares CSI China Internet ETF (KWEB), iShares MSCI India ETF (INDA) and iShares MSCI Hong Kong ETF (EWH).

Further methodological details and full tables of current values and distances from all-time peaks are available in the full market update.