In 2025, stock markets in the United States accounted for roughly ** percent of world stocks. The next largest country by stock market share was China, followed by the European Union as a whole. The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the NASDAQ are the largest stock exchange operators worldwide. What is a stock exchange? The first modern publicly traded company was the Dutch East Industry Company, which sold shares to the general public to fund expeditions to Asia. Since then, groups of companies have formed exchanges in which brokers and dealers can come together and make transactions in one space. Stock market indices group companies trading on a given exchange, giving an idea of how they evolve in real time. Appeal of stock ownership Over half of adults in the United States are investing money in the stock market. Stocks are an attractive investment because the possible return is higher than offered by other financial instruments.

About:

This dataset encompasses the historical data of major stock indices from around the world, sourced directly from Yahoo Finance. With data reaching back to the early 1920s (where available), it serves as an invaluable repository for academic researchers, financial analysts, and market enthusiasts. Users can delve into trends across decades, evaluate historical market behaviors, or even design and validate predictive financial models.

Photo by Tötös Ádám on Unsplash

Info on CSVs:

1. all_indices_data.csv:

   • Description: A consolidated dataset merging all the stock indices from Yahoo Finance.
   • Columns:
     • date: The date of the data point (formatted as YYYY-MM-DD).
     • open: The opening value of the index on that date.
     • high: The highest value of the index during the trading session.
     • low: The lowest value of the index during the trading session.
     • close: The closing value of the index.
     • volume: The trading volume of the index on that date.
     • ticker: The ticker symbol of the stock index.

2. individual_indices_data/[SYMBOL]_data.csv:

   • Description: Individual datasets for each stock index, where [SYMBOL] denotes the ticker symbol of the respective stock index. Each dataset is curated from Yahoo Finance's historical data archives.
   • Columns:
     • date: The date of the data point (formatted as YYYY-MM-DD).
     • open: The opening value of the index on that date.
     • high: The highest value of the index during the trading session.
     • low: The lowest value of the index during the trading session.
     • close: The closing value of the index.
     • volume: The trading volume of the index on that date.

The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is the largest stock exchange in the world, with an equity market capitalization of almost ** trillion U.S. dollars as of November 2025. The following largest three exchanges were the NASDAQ, PINK Exchange, and the Frankfurt Exchange. What is a stock exchange? A stock exchange is a marketplace where stockbrokers, traders, buyers, and sellers can trade in equities products. The largest exchanges have thousands of listed companies. These companies sell shares of their business, giving the general public the opportunity to invest in them. The oldest stock exchange worldwide is the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, founded in the late sixteenth century. Other functions of a stock exchange Since these are publicly traded companies, every firm listed on a stock exchange has had an initial public offering (IPO). The largest IPOs can raise billions of dollars in equity for the firm involved. Related to stock exchanges are derivatives exchanges, where stock options, futures contracts, and other derivatives can be traded.

Context:

The provided dataset is extracted from yahoo finance using pandas and yahoo finance library in python. This deals with stock market index of the world best economies. The code generated data from Jan 01, 2003 to Jun 30, 2023 that’s more than 20 years. There are 18 CSV files, dataset is generated for 16 different stock market indices comprising of 7 different countries. Below is the list of countries along with number of indices extracted through yahoo finance library, while two CSV files deals with annualized return and compound annual growth rate (CAGR) has been computed from the extracted data.

Number of Countries & Index:

https://www.googleapis.com/download/storage/v1/b/kaggle-user-content/o/inbox%2F15657145%2F90ce8a986761636e3edbb49464b304d8%2FNumber%20of%20Index.JPG?generation=1688490342207096&alt=media" alt="">

Content:

Unit of analysis: Stock Market Index Analysis

This dataset is useful for research purposes, particularly for conducting comparative analyses involving capital market performance and could be used along with other economic indicators.

There are 18 distinct CSV files associated with this dataset. First 16 CSV files deals with number of indices and last two CSV file deals with annualized return of each year and CAGR of each index. If data in any column is blank, it portrays that index was launch in later years, for instance: Bse500 (India), this index launch in 2007, so earlier values are blank, similarly China_Top300 index launch in year 2021 so early fields are blank too.

The extraction process involves applying different criteria, like in 16 CSV files all columns are included, Adj Close is used to calculate annualized return. The algorithm extracts data based on index name (code given by the yahoo finance) according start and end date.

Annualized return and CAGR has been calculated and illustrated in below image along with machine readable file (CSV) attached to that.

To extract the data provided in the attachment, various criteria were applied:

1. Content Filtering: The data was filtered based on several attributes, including the index name, start and end date. This filtering process ensured that only relevant data meeting the specified criteria.

2. Collaborative Filtering: Another filtering technique used was collaborative filtering using yahoo finance, which relies on index similarity. This approach involves finding indices that are similar to other index or extended dataset scope to other countries or economies. By leveraging this method, the algorithm identifies and extracts data based on similarities between indices.

In the last two CSV files, one belongs to annualized return, that was calculated based on the Adj close column and new DataFrame created to store its outcome. Below is the image of annualized returns of all index (if unreadable, machine-readable or CSV format is attached with the dataset).

Annualized Return:

As far as annualised rate of return is concerned, most of the time India stock market indices leading, followed by USA, Canada and Japan stock market indices.

https://www.googleapis.com/download/storage/v1/b/kaggle-user-content/o/inbox%2F15657145%2F37645bd90623ea79f3708a958013c098%2FAnnualized%20Return.JPG?generation=1688525901452892&alt=media" alt="">

Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR):

The best performing index based on compound growth is Sensex (India) that comprises of top 30 companies is 15.60%, followed by Nifty500 (India) that is 11.34% and Nasdaq (USA) all is 10.60%.

The worst performing index is China top300, however this is launch in 2021 (post pandemic), so would not possible to examine at that stage (due to less data availability). Furthermore, UK and Russia indices are also top 5 in the worst order.

https://www.googleapis.com/download/storage/v1/b/kaggle-user-content/o/inbox%2F15657145%2F58ae33f60a8800749f802b46ec1e07e7%2FCAGR.JPG?generation=1688490409606631&alt=media" alt="">

Geography: Stock Market Index of the World Top Economies

Time period: Jan 01, 2003 – June 30, 2023

Variables: Stock Market Index Title, Open, High, Low, Close, Adj Close, Volume, Year, Month, Day, Yearly_Return and CAGR

File Type: CSV file

Inspiration:

• Time series prediction model
• Investment opportunities in world best economies
• Comparative Analysis of past data with other stock market indices or other indices

Disclaimer:

This is not a financial advice; due diligence is required in each investment decision.

Context

Stock Exchange is a market that allows you to buy and sell securities including shares of stock, bonds, and other financial instruments in a public venue. Stock markets enable companies to be traded publicly and raise capital. Stock markets promote investment. The raising of capital allows companies to grow their businesses, expand operations and create jobs in the economy. This investment is a key driver for economic trade, growth, and prosperity.

Content

This dataset consists of 15 years of data of some of the world's most-followed stock indices from various developed and emerging markets. The data includes the opening, closing, high, low, adjusted close and total volume of transactions that occurred on a given day.

Inspiration

People who invest in stock must be familiar with the Dow Jones, Nasdaq, Shanghai stock exchange as a few biggest exchanges in the list of largest stock exchanges in the world. But there are some other large stock exchanges that are tracked on a daily basis by traders and investors to gauge the global market sentiment. During the past 15 years, a few of these markets have also outperformed their global peers in terms of the total return delivered.

The average for 2022 based on 75 countries was 1225.97 billion U.S. dollars. The highest value was in the USA: 40297.98 billion U.S. dollars and the lowest value was in Bermuda: 0.21 billion U.S. dollars. The indicator is available from 1975 to 2024. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

Japan's main stock market index, the JP225, rose to 49553 points on December 2, 2025, gaining 0.51% from the previous session. Over the past month, the index has declined 3.78%, though it remains 26.25% higher than a year ago, according to trading on a contract for difference (CFD) that tracks this benchmark index from Japan. Japan Stock Market Index (JP225) - values, historical data, forecasts and news - updated on December of 2025.

New York Stock Exchange: Index: Dow Jones US Large Cap Total Stock Market Index data was reported at 12,988.120 NA in Apr 2025. This records a decrease from the previous number of 13,072.870 NA for Mar 2025. New York Stock Exchange: Index: Dow Jones US Large Cap Total Stock Market Index data is updated monthly, averaging 6,845.950 NA from Aug 2013 (Median) to Apr 2025, with 141 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 14,146.240 NA in Jan 2025 and a record low of 3,846.950 NA in Aug 2013. New York Stock Exchange: Index: Dow Jones US Large Cap Total Stock Market Index data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Exchange Data International Limited. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United States – Table US.EDI.SE: New York Stock Exchange: Dow Jones: Monthly.

The statistic shows the development of the MSCI World USD Index from 1986 to 2024. The 2024 year-end value of the MSCI World USD index amounted to ******** points. MSCI World USD index – additional information The MSCI World Index, developed by Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI), is one of the most important stock indices. It includes stocks from developed countries all over the world and is regarded as benchmark of global stock market. According to MSCI, this index covers about ** percent of the free float-adjusted market capitalization in each country. As seen on the statistics above, in 2024, MSCI World USD index reported its highest value since 1986 amounting, a threefold increase from the figure recorded in 2013, when the year-end value of the MSCI World index was equal to ********. Along with the S&P Global Broad Market, the MSCI World is one of the most important global stock market performance indexes. Aside of including markets around the globe, these two indexes are global in a sense that they disregard where the companies are domiciled or traded, whereas other important indexes such as the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the Japanese index Nikkei 225, Wilshire 5000, the NASDAQ 100 index, have different approaches.

China's main stock market index, the SHANGHAI, fell to 3898 points on December 2, 2025, losing 0.42% from the previous session. Over the past month, the index has declined 1.98%, though it remains 15.36% higher than a year ago, according to trading on a contract for difference (CFD) that tracks this benchmark index from China. China Shanghai Composite Stock Market Index - values, historical data, forecasts and news - updated on December of 2025.

Prices for Global Equity Index including live quotes, historical charts and news. Global Equity Index was last updated by Trading Economics this December 2 of 2025.

The average for 2021 based on 87 countries was 32.21 percent. The highest value was in Venezuela: 991.39 percent and the lowest value was in Botswana: -6.38 percent. The indicator is available from 1984 to 2021. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

The value of the DJIA index amounted to ****** at the end of June 2025, up from ********* at the end of March 2020. Global panic about the coronavirus epidemic caused the drop in March 2020, which was the worst drop since the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008. Dow Jones Industrial Average index – additional information The Dow Jones Industrial Average index is a price-weighted average of 30 of the largest American publicly traded companies on New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ, and includes companies like Goldman Sachs, IBM and Walt Disney. This index is considered to be a barometer of the state of the American economy. DJIA index was created in 1986 by Charles Dow. Along with the NASDAQ 100 and S&P 500 indices, it is amongst the most well-known and used stock indexes in the world. The year that the 2018 financial crisis unfolded was one of the worst years of the Dow. It was also in 2008 that some of the largest ever recorded losses of the Dow Jones Index based on single-day points were registered. On September 29, 2008, for instance, the Dow had a loss of ****** points, one of the largest single-day losses of all times. The best years in the history of the index still are 1915, when the index value increased by ***** percent in one year, and 1933, year when the index registered a growth of ***** percent.

Key information about United States NYSE Composite

• United States NYSE Composite closed at 21,824.7 points in Nov 2025, compared with 21,459.6 points at the previous month end
• US Equity Market Index: Month End: United States: NYSE Composite data is updated monthly, available from Dec 1965 to Nov 2025, with an average number of 3,421.6 points
• The data reached an all-time high of 21,824.7 points in Nov 2025 and a record low of 353.7 points in Sep 1974

Equity Market Index: USD data was reported at 72.239 2010=100 in 2025. This records a decrease from the previous number of 78.988 2010=100 for 2024. Equity Market Index: USD data is updated yearly, averaging 53.327 2010=100 from Dec 1990 (Median) to 2025, with 36 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 111.240 2010=100 in 2013 and a record low of 16.111 2010=100 in 1992. Equity Market Index: USD data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Turkey – Table TR.World Bank.GEM: Equity Market Index: Annual. Local equity market index valued in US$ terms

United Kingdom's main stock market index, the GB100, fell to 9690 points on December 2, 2025, losing 0.13% from the previous session. Over the past month, the index has declined 0.12%, though it remains 15.91% higher than a year ago, according to trading on a contract for difference (CFD) that tracks this benchmark index from United Kingdom. United Kingdom Stock Market Index (GB100) - values, historical data, forecasts and news - updated on December of 2025.

While the global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic caused all major stock market indices to fall sharply in March 2020, both the extent of the decline at this time, and the shape of the subsequent recovery, have varied greatly. For example, on March 15, 2020, major European markets and traditional stocks in the United States had shed around ** percent of their value compared to January *, 2020. However, Asian markets and the NASDAQ Composite Index only shed around ** to ** percent of their value. A similar story can be seen with the post-coronavirus recovery. As of November 14, 2021 the NASDAQ composite index value was around ** percent higher than in January 2020, while most other markets were only between ** and ** percent higher. Why did the NASDAQ recover the quickest? Based in New York City, the NASDAQ is famously considered a proxy for the technology industry as many of the world’s largest technology industries choose to list there. And it just so happens that technology was the sector to perform the best during the coronavirus pandemic. Accordingly, many of the largest companies who benefitted the most from the pandemic such as Amazon, PayPal and Netflix, are listed on the NADSAQ, helping it to recover the fastest of the major stock exchanges worldwide. Which markets suffered the most? The energy sector was the worst hit by the global COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, oil companies share prices suffered large declines over 2020 as demand for oil plummeted while workers found themselves no longer needing to commute, and the tourism industry ground to a halt. In addition, overall share prices in two major stock exchanges – the London Stock Exchange (as represented by the FTSE 100 index) and Hong Kong (as represented by the Hang Seng index) – have notably recovered slower than other major exchanges. However, in both these, the underlying issue behind the slower recovery likely has more to do with political events unrelated to the coronavirus than it does with the pandemic – namely Brexit and general political unrest, respectively.

Stock market index of Finland went up by 1.84% from 133.8 index in 2025M8 to 136.3 index in 2025M9. Since the 5.09% drop in 2025M4, stock market index rocketed by 19.56% in 2025M9.

The global stock market demonstrates a robust growth trajectory, poised for significant expansion in the coming decade. Projections indicate the market will surge from approximately $9.55 trillion in 2021 to over $23.85 trillion by 2033, expanding at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.926%. This growth is underpinned by strong corporate earnings, technological advancements in trading, and increasing participation from retail investors. While North America currently dominates in terms of market size, the Asia-Pacific region is emerging as the fastest-growing hub, driven by the burgeoning economies of India and China. Factors such as monetary policies, geopolitical stability, and regulatory environments will continue to be pivotal in shaping regional market dynamics and overall global performance.

Key strategic insights from our comprehensive analysis reveal:

The Asia-Pacific region is the primary growth engine for the global stock market, exhibiting the highest CAGR of 9.112%, with nations like India and China leading this rapid expansion.
North America, particularly the United States, will maintain its position as the largest market by value, commanding a significant share of the global total, despite a slightly more moderate growth rate compared to APAC.
There is a consistent and broad-based growth trend across all major global regions, indicating widespread investor confidence and economic recovery, though the pace of expansion varies, highlighting diverse investment opportunities and risks.

Global Market Overview & Dynamics of Stock Market Analysis The global stock market is on a path of sustained and significant growth, driven by a confluence of economic, technological, and social factors. The market is forecast to expand from $9.55 trillion in 2021 to nearly $23.86 trillion by 2033. This expansion reflects growing global wealth, increased corporate profitability, and the continuous innovation in financial technologies that makes investing more accessible. However, this growth is not without its challenges, as markets must navigate through geopolitical tensions, inflationary pressures, and evolving regulatory landscapes that can introduce volatility and uncertainty.

Global Stock Market Drivers

Favorable Economic Conditions: Broad-based global GDP growth, coupled with supportive monetary policies from central banks in major economies, stimulates corporate investment and boosts earnings, attracting investors to equity markets.
Technological Innovation and Accessibility: The proliferation of online trading platforms, robo-advisors, and mobile investing apps has democratized access to stock markets, leading to a surge in retail investor participation.
Corporate Profitability and IPO Activity: Strong and resilient corporate earnings growth, along with a healthy pipeline of Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) from innovative companies, continually injects fresh capital and opportunities into the market.

Global Stock Market Trends

Rise of ESG Investing: There is a rapidly growing trend of investors integrating Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) criteria into their investment decisions, pushing companies to adopt more sustainable practices.
Increased Focus on Emerging Markets: Investors are increasingly allocating capital to emerging markets, particularly in the Asia-Pacific and South American regions, in pursuit of higher growth potential compared to more mature markets.
Growth of Passive Investing: The shift towards passive investment strategies, such as index funds and Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs), continues to gain momentum due to their lower costs and broad market exposure.

Global Stock Market Restraints

Geopolitical Instability and Trade Disputes: International conflicts, trade wars, and political uncertainty can disrupt global supply chains, dampen investor sentiment, and lead to significant market volatility.
Inflation and Interest Rate Hikes: Persistent inflationary pressures force central banks to raise interest rates, which increases borrowing costs for companies and can make less risky assets like bonds more attractive relative to stocks.
Regulatory Scrutiny and Complexity: Stricter regulations on financial markets, data privacy, and corporate governance can increase compliance costs and limit certain market activities, potentially hindering growth.

Strategic Recommendations for Manufacturers

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The average for 2022 based on 75 countries was 74.88 percent. The highest value was in Hong Kong: 1273.23 percent and the lowest value was in Armenia: 1.29 percent. The indicator is available from 1975 to 2024. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.