World Markets Watchlist: July 28, 2025

A global markets watchlist tracking nine prominent indexes indicates all have posted gains through July 28, 2025. Hong Kong's Hang Seng leads with a 30.3% year-to-date gain, followed by Germany's DAXK at 16.7% and China's Shanghai at 10.3%, while India's BSE SENSEX shows the smallest gain at 1.2%. The analysis also provides historical context by comparing current performance against all-time peaks and various market recovery periods since past recessions.

Analysis

Global equity markets have shown broad-based positive performance year-to-date through July 28, 2025, with all nine tracked global indexes posting gains. However, significant performance divergence exists between regions. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index is the standout leader with a 30.3% gain, followed by Germany's DAXK at 16.7% and China's Shanghai at 10.3%, indicating exceptionally strong sentiment and momentum in these specific markets. Conversely, India's BSE SENSEX has lagged considerably, registering the smallest gain at just 1.2%. This wide disparity highlights an uneven global recovery and varying levels of investor confidence across economies. The report's use of multiple historical start points, such as the 2009 and 2020 market lows, provides a valuable long-term context for assessing the relative strength of these current trends.

Key Decisions for Investors

• Given the significant outperformance, investors should review exposure to Hong Kong and German equities, as the Hang Seng's 30.3% and DAXK's 16.7% year-to-date gains indicate strong relative momentum.
• It may be prudent to re-evaluate positions in Indian equities, as the BSE SENSEX's minimal 1.2% gain signals substantial underperformance compared to global peers.
• The wide divergence in returns suggests that a geographically selective investment strategy, potentially utilizing country-specific ETFs like EWH for Hong Kong, could be more advantageous than a passive, broad-based global allocation.