Chart of the Week - New High in New Highs
Global equities are booming, here's why + what to expect next...
No that’s not a typo, we are literally seeing a new high in new highs.
(47 countries just chalked up new highs)
The chart below tracks the weekly count of the 70 countries we track that have closed at their highest point over the trailing 52-week window.
The latest reading is the highest on record, and is comfortably higher than any reading we’ve seen in the post-2008 era.
This is highly significant because the last time we got close to this number (46) was back during the early-2000’s global equity bull market where commodities were booming, emerging markets were making transformative progress, and global stocks were outperforming their US counterparts.
So I would say this latest reading bodes particularly well for global vs US rotation.
Indeed, probably the biggest development of 2025 was the revival of global stocks and inflection point in global vs US relative performance.
And this chart is likely to go down as a harbinger of follow-through on this key theme (bullish global equities and global vs US) as we kick into what is already looking like a very interesting year for macro and markets.
Key point: Global equities are booming (seeing a surge in new highs).
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Bonus Chart 1 — Monetary Tailwinds
For those who are wondering what’s behind the moves in the chart above, or for those who may be skeptical on technicals, this next chart provides some critical context on what has been a major driver of the global equity bull market.
Aside from global stocks coming off of very cheap valuations (vs their own history and vs US), we have seen a major pivot in global macroeconomic policy settings.
Heading into 2025 there was already a shift towards easing, and then the chaos of H1 (tariff tantrum) triggered a wave of precautionary stimulus in response. This along with a weakening US dollar, rotation flows, and improving macro/earnings pulse has given a firm macro-fundamental backing to the technical developments which I laid out above. This is where you see the most interesting moves in markets: when the technicals, valuations, and macro/fundamentals align. Bullish global equities.
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Global Equities in 2026 — What do you think?
(/how are you positioned? And please feel welcome to add your comments, context, or questions in the comment section…)
(n.b. for those curious, a complete country listing for each basket above can be found here — MSCI Country Classifications) ALSO: n.b. “ex-US = excluding USA“
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Topics covered in our latest Weekly Insights Report
Aside from the chart above, we looked at several other charts, and dug into some intriguing global macro & asset allocation issues in our latest entry-level service weekly report:
Global Markets Update: global equities, fixed income, FX, commodities
Global Equity Technicals: rotation in play, upside for global equities (ex-US)
Macro Radar: key events and technical triggers to monitor
Monthly Asset Allocation Review: link to the latest monthly pack
Ideas Inventory: all current live/open ideas and views
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Thanks for your interest. Feedback and thoughts welcome.
Sincerely,
Callum Thomas
Head of Research and Founder at Topdown Charts
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