US President Donald Trump campaigned on making America great again, but the S&P 500 index has slipped behind the rest of the world this year. The benchmark US stock market index is down 2.68% so far, ranking it behind 123 actively traded global ETFs.
In contrast, Poland’s iShares MSCI Poland ETF (EPOL) is up 12.4%, Sweden’s iShares MSCI Sweden (EWD) is up 9.7%, and Brazil’s iShares MSCI Brazil (EWZ) is also up 9.6%. These gains make the US stock market’s year-to-date return a fraction of those in these countries.
The slump comes despite Trump’s threats of trade-choking tariffs, which may have led investors to underweight foreign stocks. However, recent news that China’s DeepSeek AI is outpacing many US-based models has left some US-focused portfolios reeling.
A broad global ETF, iShares MSCI EAFE (EFA), returned 4.6% this year, easily topping the S&P 500. Roundhill China Dragons also surged 9.3%. These gains suggest that underweighting foreign stocks may not be a good strategy for investors.
The S&P 500 is currently ranked 124th globally, with only a few small-cap and emerging market ETFs outperforming it so far this year.
Source: https://www.investors.com/etfs-and-funds/sectors/sp500-us-stocks-arent-great-anymore-and-trumps-term-just-started