World Markets Watchlist: August 4, 2025

A global markets watchlist tracking nine major indexes reveals that all have posted gains through August 4, 2025. Hong Kong's Hang Seng leads with a 26.0% year-to-date gain, followed by Germany's DAXK at 15.7% and the UK's FTSE 100 at 10.5%, while Japan's Nikkei 225 recorded the smallest gain at 1.0%. This indicates broad positive momentum in global equities with notable regional performance disparities.

Analysis

Global equity markets exhibit broad positive momentum year-to-date through August 4, 2025, with all nine tracked major indexes posting gains. However, significant performance divergence is evident across regions. Hong Kong's Hang Seng is the standout leader, delivering a substantial 26.0% return, indicating strong localized or sector-specific drivers. European markets have also shown robust performance, with Germany's price-only DAXK index gaining 15.7% and the UK's FTSE 100 up 10.5%. In stark contrast, Japan's Nikkei 225 has lagged considerably, posting a minimal gain of only 1.0% YTD. This wide dispersion in returns, set against a backdrop of historical performance since the 2009 and 2020 market lows, underscores that while the overall trend is bullish, regional dynamics are the dominant factor for alpha generation. The mention of specific ETFs like EWH (Hong Kong) and DXJ (Japan) provides direct pathways for implementing strategic views based on this analysis.

Key Decisions for Investors

• Given the significant 26.0% year-to-date outperformance of Hong Kong's Hang Seng, investors should evaluate whether to increase exposure to capture continued momentum or consider taking profits if the rally appears overextended.