Equity Capital Markets – Winter Update 2024

Key statistics

This report delves deeper into several Hot Topics under the following headings: the Dutch CFO Survey, the Effect of (National) Elections on Stock Market Performance and Tax Treatment of Share Repurchases by Listed Entities in the Netherlands; a comprehensive review.

Take a look at some key statistics of the report below:

• Following a disappointing 2022 in terms of equity performance and ECM issuance, equities rose in 2023, against all odds. 
• Despite a challenging macroeconomic environment, global stocks overall had a very positive performance, with many of the main global indices ending the year with double-digit growth and some coming close to record highs, such as the S&P 500, the Stoxx 600, the FTSE 100 and the DAX.
• Inflation was cut by half in 2023 but remains a key concern as it is still above Central Banks’ targets. Central banks continued tightening throughout the year as they tried to rein in sticky core inflation.
• The optimism towards inflation is expected to continue in 2024 and some investors are already predicting Central Banks will be starting a cycle of interest rate reduction towards Q2 2024.
• Economic growth has been mixed, with some countries showing more resilience, such as the US, while others have struggled to regain momentum, among them the euro area, where Germany and Netherlands shortly entered a technical recession in 2023.
  
• Despite lower volatility, investors remained cautious, heavily affecting ECM levels. Issuance levels remained sluggish, with IPO volumes at their worst levels in decades; however, the year saw some reactivation with listed companies tapping the primary markets and increasing convertible bond issuance levels.