A jubilant, unyielding crescendo has greeted the world's stock markets this year, but none have orchestrated a performance quite like Wall Street. The titan of the bourses, the U.S. stock market, has been strutting about center stage, its ballad of bountiful performance echoing aloud. With the S&P 500 delivering more than 20% returns thrice in recent lustrums, the Grand Orchestra of the Finance World is within tantalising reach of its 2022 record. The dulcet tones of closing bells announced the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing at a record high on a memorable Wednesday.
Was it only the American Act in this operatic success story? Far from it! Even the usually somber Japanese market twirled its conductor's baton and hit the high notes with its highest level since its bubble collapsed in 1989. Stocks across the multifaceted spectrum of developed and emerging economies struck a chord, surging ahead in 2023 as inflation's cacophony softened to a mere whimper. The IMF predicts global inflation to soothe down to 6.9% this year, a lyrical sigh of relief from 2022's 8.7% crescendo.
