The $32.5 Trillion Global Stock Market Rally

The Paris-based World Federation of Exchanges, an association of 52 regulated stock market exchanges around the world, recently released data on the total world stock market capitalization, which increased to $59.12 trillion in April from $57.8 trillion in March. That was a 40-month high for world equity values and the highest level since December 2007 when the U.S. recession started. From the all-time high of $63 trillion in October 2007, the value of world equity markets is currently about 6% below that pre-crisis peak, or less than $4 trillion in dollars. 

Compared to the cyclical low of $26.6 trillion in February 2009, the total world stock market capitalization has more than doubled to the current level of $59 trillion - that's a $32.5 trillion, 122% gain in two years!  Prior to the financial crisis, the world stock market value was last at $27 trillion in August 2003, and it took more than four years to reach $59 trillion in the fall of 2007 (see chart above).  The fact that world stock markets achieved the same $32.5 trillion increase in equity value in about half that time between 2009 and 2011 demonstrates the incredible resiliency of economies and financial markets to recover, even following the worst financial crisis in generations.