{"id":4309,"date":"2025-11-13T09:16:02","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T09:16:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/marketsfortress.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/13\/the-u-s-stock-market-lags-behind-dozens-of-countries-even-in-a-year-of-record-highs\/"},"modified":"2025-11-13T09:16:02","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T09:16:02","slug":"the-u-s-stock-market-lags-behind-dozens-of-countries-even-in-a-year-of-record-highs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marketsfortress.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/13\/the-u-s-stock-market-lags-behind-dozens-of-countries-even-in-a-year-of-record-highs\/","title":{"rendered":"The U.S. stock market lags behind dozens of countries, even in a year of record highs"},"content":{"rendered":"

For only the third time in 10 years, one of America\u2019s most broadly representative stock indexes, the S&P 500, is poised to give up its longtime spot as the world\u2019s top <\/strong>performing stock index.<\/p>\n

But drill down deeper, and the scale of the S&P\u2019s underperformance becomes even starker. <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Ranked against dozens of other countries\u2019 indexes, the S&P\u2019s annual performance so far is not even among the world\u2019s top 20. Or the top 30, or 40.<\/p>\n

With annual returns of 16% through Monday, the S&P <\/strong>lands in <\/strong>41st place among more than 60 stock indexes around the globe, according to an NBC News analysis. <\/p>\n

This number requires a few caveats, however. <\/p>\n

The companies in the S&P have created more value so far this year than listings on any other country\u2019s index \u2014 more than $7.7 trillion in market value.<\/p>\n

That exceeds the annual economic output of every country on Earth, except the U.S. and China.<\/p>\n

Likewise, more than 5,400 companies choose to list their shares on the New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq, according to the World Federation of Exchanges<\/a>. <\/p>\n

This combined total gives the U.S. clear standing as the No. 1 destination for publicly traded companies outside of China.<\/p>\n

Still, the S&P\u2019s relative performance this year is remarkably out of line with historical norms.<\/p>\n

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On Wall Street, even the most bullish predictions for where the index will land at the end of 2025 would only bring the S&P just in line with the performance of most international markets.<\/p>\n

Another way to compare the S&P\u2019s performance against the rest of the world is by comparing its returns to the MSCI All Country World Excluding U.S. Index, which tracks the indexes of 46 countries. <\/p>\n

The S&P 500 currently trails this index by more than 10%.<\/p>\n

That places the S&P on track to broadly underperform the rest of the world this year for only the third time in a decade.<\/p>\n

The first time, in 2017, after President Donald Trump assumed office for his first term. The most recent instance happened in 2022, when stocks tumbled in response to significant interest rate hikes to combat post-pandemic inflation.<\/p>\n

This gap in performance partly reflects the trade uncertainty that has cast a shadow over the U.S. economy since Trump began his second term in late January. <\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s on-again-off-again tariff policies have caused investors around the world to look beyond the United States<\/a> for more stable, safer opportunities. <\/p>\n

America\u2019s mounting debt, a sinking U.S. dollar and Trump\u2019s attacks on the independence of the Federal Reserve have also given investors pause.<\/p>\n

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

After Trump won the 2024 election, stocks had a strong start to the year. Markets hit record highs in mid-February. But on worries about his tariff policies, markets plunged in March<\/a>. <\/p>\n

When Trump rolled out his long-promised tariff policies<\/a> in early April it sent markets spiraling further, with more than $5.8 trillion of value erased from the S&P 500 in a matter of days.<\/p>\n

On April 9, Trump announced he was pausing most of his global tariff rollout<\/a>. Markets soared and the S&P 500 posted its third largest one-day gain in history<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The Supreme Court is now considering<\/a> the fate of Trump\u2019s sweeping tariff agenda. <\/p>\n

If the administration loses, it could trigger refunds of the duties paid by importers due back to them, forcing the Treasury Department to issue new debt to pay for them, which could drive up yields.<\/p>\n

While tariff uncertainty has remained and the administration\u2019s trade agenda has hit a number of speed bumps, most notably with China, equities have been buoyed by the rapidly expanding artificial intelligence boom.<\/p>\n

Trillions of dollars are being poured into the industry by companies and investments have sent the values of firms such as Nvidia, Apple, Amazon and Alphabet soaring to market values as high as $5 trillion<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The U.S. currently has nine companies trading above $1 trillion in value. Fears have grown about a potential bubble<\/a> in the sector. <\/p>\n

But still, the performance of U.S. stocks broadly lags the world by a wide margin.<\/p>\n

With AI and tech stocks fueling the momentum, a look at the other 493 companies in the S&P reveals some major differences. <\/p>\n

For the third quarter, those seven tech stocks are expected to post earnings growth of nearly 15%. The other 493 companies? The expectation is just 6.7%. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe economy is running at two speeds,\u201d ABN AMRO senior economist Rogier Quaedvlieg wrote Tuesday. \u201cAI and related sectors are thriving, whereas most other areas are stagnant or contracting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Through Monday, South Korea\u2019s Kospi index held the No. 1 spot. The index that trades on the Korea Stock Exchange has posted a return of nearly 70% this year. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhile semiconductor exports remain Korea\u2019s central growth driver, the country is also emerging as a formidable defense exporter,\u201d Franklin Templeton\u2019s Dina Ting recently wrote. <\/p>\n

\u201cAdditionally, South Korea\u2019s stock market has been buoyed by the rebound in its technology sector, notably semiconductors, as demand for memory chips recovers globally,\u201d Ting added. \u201cThe country\u2019s leadership in semiconductor manufacturing and AI-related investment are key drivers of this momentum.\u201d <\/p>\n

After South Korea rank the likes of Kenya, Nigeria, Chile, Poland, Pakistan, Israel, Spain, Czechia and Jordan to round out the top 10.<\/p>\n

Not until more than 40 countries down the ranking does the S&P 500 appear. <\/p>\n

One of the ways that trade policies and tariffs have made the gap between the U.S. and other indexes wider than it might otherwise be is by weakening the U.S. dollar. <\/p>\n

The sinking dollar has helped propel international indexes higher. As the dollar weakens, the values of foreign investments and stock returns rise by comparison. In turn, a rising or stronger dollar would dampen the relative return of money invested outside the U.S.<\/p>\n

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The Dollar Index, a measure of the U.S. currency\u2019s strength against a basket of foreign currencies such as the pound, yen, euro, Swiss franc and Canadian dollar, has sunk 9% since the start of 2025. <\/p>\n

The continued erosion<\/a> in the dollar\u2019s value makes it more expensive for American companies and consumers to import goods, go on vacation or send money abroad.<\/p>\n

\u201cI see signs that the attraction of the dollar is slightly eroded, and [the] future will tell whether there is more erosion of that,\u201d European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde told CBS News<\/a> in October.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor a currency to be really trusted you need a few things,\u201d she said. \u201cYou need geopolitical credibility, you need the rule of law and strong institutions. And you need a military force that is strong enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think on at least one and possibly two accounts, the U.S. is still in a very dominant position,\u201d Lagarde continued. But the central banker warned that the U.S. \u201cneeds to be very careful because those positions erode over the course of time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not everyone agrees. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe dollar\u2019s been on a pretty good run over a long period of time and it\u2019s certainly given back \u2014 this year given some of the policy actions \u2014 some of the gains, but fundamentally the dollar is the reserve currency of the world,\u201d Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon said on Bloomberg Television<\/a> on Oct. 30. \u201cI don\u2019t see anything at the moment that threatens that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s something to watch, but I\u2019m not concerned that there\u2019s some fundamental shift,\u201d Solomon said.<\/p>\n

CORRECTION: <\/strong>(Nov. 11, 2025, 6:17 p.m. ET): A previous version of this article misstated how many times in the last 10 years the S&P 500 has not been the world\u2019s top performing stock index. It\u2019s the third time, not the second. And a graphic misstated the S&P\u2019s performance in 2022. It was negative 19.4%, not positive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For only the third time in 10 years, one of America\u2019s most broadly representative stock indexes, the S&P 500, is poised to give up its longtime spot as the world\u2019s top performing stock index. But drill down deeper, and the scale of the S&P\u2019s underperformance becomes even starker. Ranked against dozens of other countries\u2019 indexes, <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":4310,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-4309","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marketsfortress.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marketsfortress.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marketsfortress.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marketsfortress.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4309"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/marketsfortress.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4309\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marketsfortress.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4310"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marketsfortress.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marketsfortress.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marketsfortress.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}