Equities: US tech and crypto stocks dominate 2024

From a stock market perspective, 2024 has been an outstanding year so far. Many indices are up by double-digit percentages just a few days before the end of the year. This time, the DAX has made it into the leading group within Europe with an increase in value of around 19%, while the mid-caps in the MDAX are among the underperformers at -5% and the small-caps in the SDAX at -2%.

The Euro Stoxx 50 achieved a price gain of “only” 7 percent, which the index owed primarily to the weak performance of some French heavyweights such as L'Oreal, TotalEnergies and Sanofi in a difficult political environment. This was compounded by sector-specific problems at luxury goods manufacturer LVMH, the largest share in the index. Across Europe, Cyprus (56%), the Czech Republic (22%), Hungary (21%) and the German blue chips performed significantly better.

Weak euro as an extra performance driver

Looking beyond European borders, the stock exchange in Pakistan stands out positively, where the KSE-100 has gained 73% since the beginning of the year. In euro terms, the increase is  as high as 86%. 

The major US indices again outperformed the overall market in 2024. The Dow Jones Industrial Index has currently gained 13% since the beginning of the year, the S&P 500 23% and the Nasdaq 100 a staggering 25%.

Due to the fall in the euro/US dollar exchange rate over the course of the year, the gains of index trackers traded in euros in this country are actually 30% and higher. There were also positive currency effects for numerous investments in Asia. Of the established indices in this region, the Hang Seng China Enterprise performed particularly well with an increase of 24%, and 32% in euros.

 Top performers in the DAX with 325% growth

Of the DAX shares, Siemens Energy and Rheinmetall stood out this year with a 325% and 111% increase respectively. On the other hand, Bayer and Sartorius performed very poorly, falling by 44% and 36% respectively. 

The share with the highest turnover on the Frankfurt and Xetra stock exchanges was by far the software provider SAP, the third top performer in the DAX with a price increase of 70 percent to date. Shares in Siemens, Mercedes-Benz, Allianz and Deutsche Telekom were also heavily traded. With the exception of the car manufacturer, these companies were also able to further increase their stock market value in 2024.

Nvidia is the ultimate investor favorite

Among the foreign stocks, there is one share that clearly outshines all others in terms of trading volume. Unsurprisingly, this is the Nvidia share, which has been fueled by the AI frenzy and whose price is 180% higher than at the start of the year. In euro terms, the increase is even as high as 192%. The turnover of Nvidia shares on Xetra and the trading floor in Frankfurt in 2024 was more than three times higher than that of its direct rivals Microsoft, Apple, Tesla and Amazon - all shares from the Magnificent 7 group, which made considerable further gains this year.

Tesla really picks up the speed at the end

For a long time, however, it didn't look that way, at least not for the e-car pioneer. In the first three months of this year, Tesla shares lost almost 40% of their value, and even at the beginning of October, the stock was still in the red. Following the election of Donald Trump as the new US president, however, the share price of the company led by Trump's friend Elon Musk really took off. The stock is currently up 77 percent, or 86 percent in euros.

Microstrategy benefits from crypto boom

The surprisingly clear election result in the U.S. has led to significant shifts in this year's stock market performance rankings. One of the biggest beneficiaries was the crypto sector, which Trump now views very positively. 

This was good news for Microstrategy shareholders, as the company has a large portion of its assets invested in bitcoins. The stock, which is also popular with investors on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, more than doubled in value within two weeks of the election. Despite subsequent profit-taking, the performance of the U.S. stock since the beginning of the year is still 539%, or 556% in euros.

By Thomas Koch, 23 December, 2024, © Deutsche Börse AG