Markets

Ranked: Global Stock Market Returns in Q1 2025

Published

3 weeks ago

April 4, 2025

Dorothy Neufeld

Graphics/Design:

Sabrina Lam

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Ranked: Global Stock Market Returns in Q1 2025

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Key Takeaways

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index surged 15.3% in Q1 2025, supported by DeepSeek’s impact on the tech industry and improving economic growth forecasts.
The German DAX 40 index climbed 11.3%, with defense company Rheinmettal jumping by more than twofold over the quarter.
U.S. large caps posted -4.6% returns amid flagging confidence amid global trade wars.

While U.S. equities posted two consecutive years of double-digit annual returns, this quarter is notably different.

Amid the U.S. selloff, fueled by concerns of inflation and slower GDP growth, investors have flocked to Chinese and European stocks. Among the key drivers are DeepSeek’s impressive performance and a boom in defense spending across the bloc.

This graphic shows the performance of global stock markets in Q1 2025, based on data from various sources.

Global Stock Markets Outperform

Below, we rank the returns of international equities, highlighting how the vast majority saw positive gains over the quarter:

Stock Market	Index	Q1 2025 Returns
🇨🇳 China Large Cap	Hang Seng	15.3%
🇩🇪 Germany	DAX 40	11.3%
🇮🇹 Italy	Milano Italia Borsa	11.3%
🇨🇭 Switzerland	Swiss Market Index	8.6%
🇫🇷 France	CAC 40	5.6%
🇬🇧 UK	FTSE 100	5.0%
🇨🇦 Canada	TSX Composite	0.8%
🇨🇳 China	SSE Composite	-0.5%
🌍 Emerging Markets excluding China	MSCI Emerging Markets Ex. China	-0.7%
🇺🇸 U.S. Large Caps	S&P 500	-4.6%
🇺🇸 U.S. Tech	Nasdaq-100	-8.3%
🇺🇸 U.S. Small Caps	Russell 2000	-9.8%
🇯🇵 Japan	Nikkei 225	-10.7%

With 15.3% returns, the Hang Seng Index soared amid rising investor confidence and stronger corporate earnings.

In Q4 2024, several tech giants reported healthy profit growth, with Tencent’s earnings jumping 90% year-over-year. The company has recently integrated DeepSeek’s AI model into its popular Weixin app, which could fuel future monetization opportunities.

Meanwhile, Germany’s DAX 40 Index climbed 11.3% in response to an influx of stimulus spending. Germany’s chancellor-in-waiting proposed a $535 billion infrastructure fund to boost the country’s military and spur growth across the country, serving as a catalyst for defense and construction stocks.

Similarly, Italy’s stock market witnessed double-digit returns over the quarter while the Swiss Market Index and France’s CAC 40 jumped 8.6% and 5.6%, respectively.

In contrast, Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped into correction territory amid global trade uncertainties. With -10.7% returns, the tech-heavy index posted its worst quarter since March 2020.