2025 recap: US stocks did well, but international markets outpaced them

Now that 2025 has wrapped up, it’s interesting to see how different markets performed, it was really goof for US stocks, especially large caps and tech, though many international markets actually delivered stronger returns overall, In other trading news, tokenized stocks are gaining traction, for example, Bitget recently recorded around $1 B in trading volume for these products, these shows there is growing interest in alternative ways to access equities.

Looking closer, the MSCI All Country World ex‑USA index, which tracks global stocks outside the US, returned roughly 29 % in 2025, ahead of the S&P 500’s gain of around 16 %, A weaker US dollar also helped boost the dollar adjusted returns of foreign markets, Asian markets, in particular saw notable strength, with South Korea’s KOSPI surging and tech heavy companie leading the way, European indices also posted solid double digit gains across Spain, Italy, Germany, and the UK.

So while US equities did well, the broader picture shows that global markets outside the US led last year, With trends like international gains and growing adoption of tokenized stocks, it’s worth thinking about how diversification might play into portfolio decisions in 2026.