For instance, after surrendering the fight for the second-largest global economy to China almost 15 years ago, Japan suddenly has Germany to contend with for the second-runner place on the podium.
The US markets defied gravity to squeeze out another record for the second Friday in a row, ending the last week of January at a high. However, the market breadth remains narrowly confined to the seven AI stocks taking turns to drive the gains. This time, Microsoft Corp secured its membership in the US$3 trillion ($4 trillion) club.
To put this number into perspective, that is three times the total market value of all companies listed on the London Stock Exchange and over six times the corresponding figure of the Singapore Exchange (SGX:S68
) Group (SGX). Indeed, when one compares relative measures, they are often a function of both variables and tell two stories, not one.
