Abu Dhabi (WAM)
Global stock markets called for the year “2022” with sharp losses, in light of the growing fears of investors about the global recession and the tightening of monetary policy to curb inflation, which reached unprecedented levels in decades.
And Chinese stocks suffered the worst annual loss since 2018, affected by several factors, including the “Covid-19” policy, the real estate crisis and the Federal Reserve’s tightening of monetary policy, while Japanese stocks recorded their first annual loss in 4 years, while European stocks achieved this year. Worst performance since 2018.
In the European markets, the German DAX index decreased during 2022 by 12.3%, equivalent to 1961 points, to reach the level of 13923.59 points, compared to its previous level at 15884.86 points by the end of 2021.
The European “Stoxx 600” index fell by 13.1%, equivalent to 63.8 points, to reach the level of 424.89 points, compared to 488.71 points, while the “Euro Stoxx 50” index declined by 11.9%, equivalent to 512 points, to close at 3793.6 points, compared to 4306.07 points at the end of 2021.
The French “CAC” index lost 679 points, or 9.5%, to reach 6473.7 points, after it was trading at 7153.03 points at the end of last year, while the British “FTSE 100” index recorded the only increase among European markets, but by a slight increase of 0.9%. Equivalent to 67 points, to reach the level of 7451.74 points, compared to its previous level at 7384.54 points. In terms of Asian markets, the Japanese Nikkei index fell on the Tokyo Stock Exchange during the year 2022 by 9.4%, or the equivalent of 2697.2 points, to close at 26094.5 points, while the broader Topix index fell by 5.1%, equivalent to 100.6 points, to reach 1891.7 points.
The “SSI” Composite Index on the Shanghai Stock Exchange decreased by 550.5 points, or 15.1%, to close at 3089.26 points, while the “Hang Seng” index closed down by 15.5%, equivalent to 3616.3 points, to reach the level of 19781.4 points.