The world has faced tough conditions so far this year … and yet somehow the major indices have held-up reasonably well.
In addition, the up-coming election will impact markets. Clearly, the Democrats would love to see a rally. In contrast, I've heard Republican CEOs admit that they are consciously casting doubt on the economy.
Despite the onslaught of scary news stories and political maneuverings, the S&P 500 managed to gain approximately 7% in the first half of this year. Pretty impressive considering …
So, how does that compare to other markets around the world? Here is an interactive chart to answer that question.
In the first half of the year, Germany's DAX and India's BSE Sensex did quite well. Meanwhile, France's CAC and London's FTSE were relatively flat … while Canada, Brazil, and Spain haven't kept up.
According to Business Insider, Venezuela had the biggest percentage gain (115%) while Cyprus had the biggest loss (-52%). Not surprisingly, smaller European nations clutter the bottom of the list.
