^{Past performance is not a guide to future performance and may not be repeated. SOURCE: Refinitiv Datastream}

1 January

US markets open year at all-time high: S&P500 at 3,245

21 January

Centre for Disease Control and Prevention confirms first US Covid-19 case

February

US recorded cases of Covid-19 remain below 100

8 March

Saudi Arabia sparks an oil price war as Moscow refuses to lower oil prices as the Covid-19 slump emerges

9 March

US markets fall 8%, as anxiety about pandemic intensifies

11 March

World Health Organisation declares the Covid-19 outbreak a pandemic

12 March

US markets fall further 10%

13 March

US bans flights from Europe

16 March

US markets fall further 13%

23 March

US markets bottom with the S&P500 at 2,191 (33% down on the start of the year)

27 March

The $2 trillion US fiscal stimulus package is passed

1 April

US recorded cases of Covid-19 exceed 1 million during April

20 April

US oil prices turn negative as storage costs exceed market value

4 June

European Central Bank announces a further €600 billion stimulus, bringing total Covid response to €1.35 trillion

11 June

Markets fall 7% as fears of a second wave take hold

July

US second quarter GDP falls by annualised 32.9%

August

August sees US stocks rise almost 7% – the best August performance since the 1980s

20 August

The market capitalisation of Apple exceeds $2 trillion

2 September

Stock market peaks: S&P500 reaches 3,588 – some 64% higher than its March trough

3 October

President Trump tests positive for Covid-19

Tech has led the charge

The big contributors to US equities’ resurgent performance in 2020 have been the tech giants.

By the end of September, the S&P500 had returned over 5%. Subtract the contribution of the “FAMAGs” – that’s Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft and Alphabet (Google’s parent company) and the index ended September 3% lower than at the start of the year.

Election year 2020: shaping up to be another year in which US equities outperform other regions

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