Global stock markets generated strong gains during the fourth quarter of 2025 with most of the major developed market regions delivering positive returns. The key factors that drove performance included interest rate cuts from global central banks, strong corporate earnings, and economic resilience across major global economic regions. One of the key trends during the fourth quarter was the underperformance of U.S. stocks relative to international stocks. In the U.S., the S&P 500 generated a total return of +2.7% despite multiple selloffs in the technology sector that sent the overall market into negative territory in October and November. Performance was much stronger across many international markets with Europe and Japan generating total returns of +6.5% and +8.8%, respectively, as seen in the chart below.