Emerging markets have defied expectations and outperformed other major markets since President Trump’s Liberation Day tariffs were announced last year.
Global asset manager Aberdeen looked at where six main global markets performed between market close on 2 April 2025 – the day of President Trump’s Liberation Day tariffs announcement – and a year later on 27 March 2026.
Global equity markets generally saw strong gains over the period but the MSCI Emerging Markets index was the strongest performer, rising 26%, followed by the FTSE 100 at 16% and the FTSE World at 14.1%.
The S&P 500 delivered a 9.6% increase, while the Dow Jones and DAX saw lower gains of 4.4% and 3.1% respectively.
Ben Ritchie, head of developed markets equities at Aberdeen Investments, said: “Over the past year, investors have had to make sense of an awful lot of noise and uncertainty on top of the human impact of global events. Whilst we’d never want to draw big conclusions from a single year of market data, our analysis is interesting and this period has been a good reminder that headlines don’t always tell the full story. Even at a time when markets and geopolitics feel more tangled than ever, the numbers can sometimes point to something different.
“Our big call has been to encourage investors to diversify their equity allocations and to that end it is pleasing to see markets other than the US lead the way during a time of significant uncertainty.”
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