For the latest ETF industry news, please refer to our “Asia ETF Roundup (Industry) – April 2020”.
Major Markets Performance
In April, global economies remained in lockdown mode under the threat of COVID-19, but equity markets recovered. The S&P 500 rebounded 12.7%, putting its year-to-date performance at -9.9%. Key Asian markets also bounced back to varying degrees, Korea’s KOSPI, Taiwan’s TAIEX and Thailand’s SET rose 11-16%. China’s equity markets saw smaller gains ranging from 4-6% (HSCEI 4.7%; CSI 300 6.1%; Shanghai Composite 4.0%). Emerging markets also regained ground. Equities in India, Indonesia, Pakistan and Vietnam rose anywhere from 11-17% (proxied by the respective MSCI country indices in USD terms).