Market trends

Futures and options enable investors to take directional views and hedge portfolios as markets pull back and price swings increase this year.

The global benchmark plunged 8.7% in dollars last month, wrapping up its worst month and quarter since the COVID-19 pandemic hit in the first quarter of 2020. The index is down 21% so far in 2022.

The STOXX Global 1800 index rose 0.1% in dollars last month, paring an earlier decline of as much as 5.6%. Value and high-dividend stocks rise, but most other strategies struggle as investors contend with the prospect of higher interest rates.

One year after the introduction of Europe’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation, SFDR Arts. 8 and 9 funds increased their combined share of total European fund assets to 45.6%.

The Index Industry Association (IIA) provides education and advocacy on behalf of independent index providers worldwide, CEO Rick Redding explains to Qontigo’s blog. With the transformation of the role and shape of indices in full swing, he sees huge possibilities for the industry and for investors ahead – as well as key challenges.

The STOXX Global 1800 index fell 8.2% in dollars last month, taking its retreat in 2022 to 13.2%. US technology shares slumped 12.9% in month, the worst showing since November 2008.

The STOXX Global 1800 index rose 2.7% in dollars last month, with basic-resources and energy companies leading gains for a second consecutive month. The benchmark is still down 5.5% for 2022.

Futures on the EURO STOXX Banks Dividend Points Index are trading between 7.9% and 23% below their pre-war prices, depending on the maturity, even as equity prices recover. Traders have raised expectations that a slowing economy may hit lenders’ ability to continue or increase their payments to shareholders.

The war in Ukraine has hit the various business sectors in the equity market in different ways. In contrast, themes such as infrastructure, clean energy transition and cybersecurity have emerged as outperformers. A new whitepaper from Qontigo’s Applied Research team analyzes this divergent performance and what it says about asset-allocation approaches.

The STOXX Global 1800 index fell 2.6% in dollars last month, with only basic-resources and energy companies posting a positive return among 20 sectors. Climate indices struggle to match benchmark returns, while factor, dividend and minimum-variance strategies outperform.

European and emerging-markets shares took the biggest hit following the start of military action against Ukraine, with the STOXX Europe 600 Index paring its outperformance to the STOXX USA 900 Index for the year. Energy and mining stocks have fared the best this year as concerns about supply disruptions have lifted the price of commodities.

The futures’ price and trading volume have jumped this year. If the French presidential elections this April were to trigger market volatility as did the vote five years ago, activity in VSTOXX futures could pick up further in coming weeks.