The winners and the losers of the 2024 trading year

With only one day left to go, let’s take a look and what were the best and worst performers in each asset class during the year. Were there any standouts and/or surprises that might catch your eye?

Here’s a look at the major currencies space with the dollar as a benchmark:

• GBP -1.4%
• CNY -2.8%
• EUR -5.7%
• CHF -7.3%
• CAD -8.3%
• AUD -8.7%
• JPY -10.8%
• NZD -10.9%

Upshot: The dollar is king of the hill with the US economy holding up better than its peers. A Trump election win and a more hawkish Fed going into the turn of the year has definitely helped quite significantly as well. 👑

And here’s a look at major indices in Asia, Europe, and the US:

• Nasdaq +29.8%
• S&P 500 +23.8%
• Nikkei +19.2%
• DAX +18.9%
• Hang Seng +17.7%
• CSI 300 +17.3%
• Shanghai Composite +14.3%
• IBEX +14.2%
• Dow Jones +13.0%
• FTSE MIB +12.6%
• Russell 2000 +10.7%
• UK FTSE +5.0%
• CAC 40 -3.0%

Upshot: Tech stocks dominated the scene with Nvidia being the biggest carry and that permeated elsewhere too. French stocks are the worst among the bunch amid political woes with the Paris Olympics also not enough to bolster the economy. 🤖

And here’s a look at the some other major asset classes of interest:

• Cocoa +187.3%
• Bitcoin +118.3%
• Natural gas spot +66.9%
• Ethereum +46.0%
• Gold +26.4%
• Silver +21.4%
• Copper +5.1%
• WTI crude oil +0.4%
• Brent crude oil -3.2%
• Platinum -9.5%
• Soybean -23.0%

Upshot: Bitcoin’s surge to hit six figures is one that will steal the spotlight but gold prices having rallied for ten months out of the year is arguably worth a mention. Will we see more of the same next year? 🚀

This article was written by Justin Low at www.forexlive.com.