Traders work at the New York Stock Exchange on June 26, 2026. <\/p>\n
NYSE<\/p>\n
The tech sector emerged as a clear winner in the first half of 2026. But while U.S. Big Tech stocks enjoyed strong gains \u2014 despite a sharp sell-off<\/a> at the end of June \u2014 they were largely outperformed by their international counterparts. \u00a0<\/p>\n Of MSCI’s sector-specific indexes, the index covering large and mid-cap emerging markets technology stocks was the best performer in the first six months of the year, with a gain of more than 90%. <\/p>\n Its European counterpart added 44.8%, while the U.S. version gained 19.4%. <\/p>\n The trend was also visible across other parts of the market. The pan-European Stoxx 600<\/a> Technology index jumped 23.4% between January and June, compared with the S&P 500 Information Technology<\/a> index’s 19.4% increase. <\/p>\n The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100<\/a> index \u2014 which counts Nvidia<\/a>, Apple<\/a>, Microsoft<\/a> and Alphabet<\/a> among its constituents \u2014 added 19.9% in the six months to June. <\/p>\n Comparatively, the S&P 500<\/a> gained 9.55% in the first half of the year, the Nasdaq Composite<\/a> added 12.79%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average<\/a> rose by 8.85%. All three of Wall Street’s major averages were outperformed by various major indexes located elsewhere in the world. <\/p>\n Emerging markets continued their broad outperformance, with the MSCI Emerging Markets index gaining 24% in the first half. South Korea’s Kospi<\/a> surged 101.1%, while Japan’s Nikkei 225<\/a> gained around 39%. <\/p>\n The pan-European Stoxx 600<\/a> gained more than 8%, with London’s FTSE 100<\/a> adding 5.7% in the first half, while Germany’s DAX<\/a> gained about 1.9% and France’s CAC 40<\/a> rose by just over 3%. <\/p>\n Southern European indexes were standouts in the region, with Spain’s IBEX 35<\/a> jumping 12.5%, Portugal’s PSI<\/a> index adding 10.5% and Italy’s FTSE MIB<\/a> gaining 14.7%. <\/p>\n This is a developing story. Please refresh for updates. <\/p>\n