Daily Index Insights offers a concise two-minute read on the latest news and trends in index markets. This resource includes performance data from S&P Dow Jones Indices across equities, fixed income, multi-asset, commodities, and factors. Our daily insights are designed to provide you with a comprehensive understanding of market movements, empowering you to make informed decisions based on the most current indices data and analysis.
"I'd give all my symphonies if I could have invented the locomotive!"
Antonín Dvořák (8 September 1841 – 1 May 1904)
On this day 504 years ago, the Spanish ship Victoria dropped anchor in Seville, Spain, wrapping up the first recorded voyage around the world. This expedition, originally part of Ferdinand Magellan's fleet, was an incredibly perilous journey. When the group set sail three years earlier, it consisted of five ships and roughly 270 men. By the end of the brutal trip, only the Victoria and a mere 18 surviving crew members made it back home. Here is your daily dashboard.
- With U.S. markets closed yesterday for Labor Day, we’re provided with an opportunity to zoom out and assess the medium-term picture. Equities have delivered a strong year globally, with the S&P Asia 50 the standout performer, although the current quarter has been more mixed. Fixed income indices have hit by the rise in longer-dated yields, while commodities, by contrast, have led across both horizons: the S&P GSCI has gained 23% this quarter and 52% year-to-date, driven higher by strength in energy. Meanwhile, Gold is now positive YTD (as much a U.S. dollar story as anything else), while wannabe competitor as the go to store-of-value, Bitcoin, is still underwater.
- After the AI trade and the bond markets, Energy has been the third major theme driving markets this year. The S&P GSCI Energy Index has more than doubled, up 107% YTD, with refined products such as gasoil and heating oil comfortably outpacing the crude benchmarks. Energy equities participated too, though more modestly, with both U.S. and global energy sectors up around 40%. Elsewhere the rally is far less evident, with oil & gas credit broadly flat, and the S&P Global Clean Energy Transition Index up “just” 9%.
- A strong energy sector can also be seen in country performance. Several of this year’s top performing countries have significant weights in Energy. One major exception is the Middle East, where high Energy exposure has been offset by exposure to the very geopolitical risks driving prices higher.
- And finally, SPIVA® season is in full swing, and we are delighted to share the news that the Australia Mid-Year 2026 Report has just been published. Most active equity managers in Australia lagged their benchmarks in H1 2026, but not all and not in every category. Dive into the details in the full report.
