Europe was the strongest performing developed world stock market, registering a return of 4.09% in March versus 2.24% for Asia-Pacific and 1.76% for North America.
According to Standard & Poor’s global stock market review, the S&P/Citigroup Developed World Index gained 2.53% in March on the heels of Europe’s outperformance.
“World economic data released in March was positive across the board,” says Nicholas Aninos, analyst at Standard & Poor’s Index Services. “In the US, consumer confidence levels rose, inflation remained under control and the Fed indicated that it will keep inflation in check for the foreseeable future. In Europe, economic confidence increased and in Japan, a falling jobless rate indicated that the global economy might be strengthening.”
Smaller-cap stocks continued to outperform in March both in relative and discrete terms. In the developed world, only Finland, Ireland, Slovenia, and the United Kingdom saw the larger-caps outperform the smaller-caps. In the developed world for March, the S&P/Citigroup Extended Market Index gained 4.03% and the S&P/Citigroup Primary Market Index gained 2.10%.