Below is a table highlighting the year-to-date performance of the major stock markets for 77 countries around the world.
The average YTD performance of the 77 countries listed below currently stands at 4.01%. Ā Sixty of the 77 countries are in the green so far this year, while the other 17 are lower. Ā Of the G7 countries, Japan and the UK are up the most, but remember that much of these gains are due to local currency depreciation. Ā The US ranks third with a YTD gain of 6.5%, which really puts it on top given the currency impact on Japan and the UK. Ā Italy has been the worst performer in the G7 with a YTD decline of 2.74%.
The BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India, China) have not had a great start to the year. Ā China is up the most of the BRICs, but it's only up 1.94%. Ā Russia ranks second with a gain of 0.64%, while India is down 1.41% and Brazil is down 6.09%. Ā Brazil has been the third worst performing country on the list so far this year.