World Indices — Week in Review
Saturday, 12 September 2026
Relative performance, past week — % change from a week ago Click any name above to hide its line, or click it again to bring it back.
Relative performance, past month — % change from a month ago Click any name above to hide its line, or click it again to bring it back.
Relative performance, year to date — % change from the previous year's close Click any name above to hide its line, or click it again to bring it back.
Relative performance, past 12 months — % change from a year ago Click any name above to hide its line, or click it again to bring it back.
THE WEEK ACROSS THE WORLD
It was a broadly red week for global equities as an escalating conflict tied to Iran pushed oil sharply higher and rattled sentiment across every region. Losses ranged from mild in Shenzhen (-0.34%) to sharp in Hong Kong (-3.30%), with South Korea the lone bright spot among the ten benchmarks tracked. ⚠️ Crude Oil (WTI) surged +9.37% on the week to $100.05 a barrel amid pipeline attacks and supply fears, while the VIX jumped +9.02% to 15.84 and the 10-Year Treasury yield rose 19 basis points to 4.97%, all pointing to a broad risk-off tone. Europe and North America underperformed Asia overall, with London's FTSE 100 (-1.67%) and the Dow Jones (-1.57%) among the week's weakest major benchmarks, though the KOSPI's +3.33% gain kept Asia from being uniformly negative.
ASIA
Asian markets were mixed but tilted negative. The Nikkei 225 fell -1.55% to 64,011.34, while the KOSPI in Seoul bucked the regional trend to close the week up +3.33% at 6,909.91. The TAIEX in Taipei slipped -0.79% to 46,184.85.
The two Chinese benchmarks diverged only modestly from one another but both moved lower even as Beijing moved to shore up its financial system: the SSE Composite in Shanghai fell -1.07% to CN¥3,888.11 and the SZSE Component in Shenzhen was more resilient, down just -0.34% to CN¥13,471.26. That mild decline came despite news that China said it would pump $54 billion into banks and insurers — the market data shows those stocks, and the broader indices, still fell on the week, a case where the announced support measure did not translate into a corresponding rally.
⚠️ Hong Kong's Hang Seng was the region's weakest performer by a wide margin, down -3.30% to 24,805.63, notably steeper than either mainland Chinese gauge.
EUROPE AND NORTH AMERICA
European indices closed broadly lower. London's FTSE 100 fell -1.67% to 10,650.40, its steepest weekly drop among the major Western benchmarks tracked, despite a BBC report of surprise UK economic growth of 0.4% in July. The Euro Stoxx 50 declined -1.06% to 6,325.13.
In New York, all three major gauges finished the week lower. The Dow Jones dropped -1.57% to 52,573.29, the S&P 500 fell -0.80% to 7,656.98, and the Nasdaq Composite eased -0.66% to 26,333.04, while the Nasdaq 100 slipped -0.59% to 29,368.44. The declines came alongside a rise in Treasury yields and oil prices tied to the widening Middle East conflict, alongside a CNBC report that U.S. inflation for August ran hot, with BBC citing a 3.4% year-on-year rise in prices.
🚀 Not every name fell with the broader tape: Oracle posted 30% revenue growth on AI cloud demand, with cloud infrastructure revenue up 121% year-on-year, and Dell shares jumped after an RBC initiation cited roughly $16.4 billion in second-quarter AI server sales — both moves not directly reflected in the index-level data above, but consistent with pockets of strength beneath a weak week for the major averages.
THE WEEK AHEAD
- 📅 The Federal Reserve's next policy meeting looms as the key event for U.S. markets, with Jim Cramer and other commentators flagging it as the next major test for stocks after a volatile week for oil and yields.
- ⚠️ Continued escalation in the Middle East remains the dominant macro risk, following Saudi Arabia's shutdown of the East-West crude pipeline and reports of Houthi advances toward Red Sea shipping lanes.
- The next NYSE trading session is Monday 14 September, with no U.S. market holiday scheduled in the coming days.
- Investors will continue to watch inflation and energy-price data given last week's elevated CPI reading and diesel prices reported at record highs.
World Indices — Week in Review is AI-generated general market commentary for informational purposes only. It is not financial advice and does not constitute a recommendation to buy, hold, or sell any security. Share and index prices are settled closes from the last completed market session, date-matched to the NYSE calendar. Any futures, extended-hours or crypto levels are live quotes at the time of writing. Nothing here is real-time.