Over the past year, most of the world's important stock markets have gone down, especially after September 2024. Think of stock markets like a place where you can buy and sell pieces of big companies. When these markets go down, it means the value of these companies is decreasing.
There are a few main reasons for this drop. Firstly, interest rates have gone up. This makes it more expensive for businesses to borrow money, which can slow down their growth and make investors worried. Secondly, there's a lot of tension between countries around the world. This uncertainty makes people hesitant to invest their money. Lastly, some experts believe that stock prices had become too high in the first place, and now they are coming down to a more reasonable level.
For a long time, the United States was like the "big brother" in a family, the one who often took care of everyone. But now, other countries like India, China, Russia, and Japan have also become major global powers – they've become bigger brothers too. In a family with many leaders, sometimes everyone starts trying hard to make their own "home" (their economy) the best. This competition, possibly triggered by things like the "reciprocal tariffs" started under the Trump administration (where countries put taxes on each other's goods), has brought in fear of a slowdown in the world's economy. This fear has made the stock markets go down.
Just like the main stock markets in the US, the important markets in India and China have also seen a decline. Even Japan's Nikkei and Russia's stock market show a similar downward trend. This shows that these bigger "brothers" are all feeling the pressure.
Interestingly, the stock market in Singapore seemed to be doing well for a while. But then, when tariffs (special taxes on goods traded between countries) were put in place, even Singapore's market started to fall. This shows how easily events in one part of the world can affect everyone else, especially when people worry about things like prices going up (inflation).
So, what does this all mean? It looks like the global economy is going through a difficult time. The drop in stock markets shows that many investors are worried about the future, especially with multiple powerful countries now trying to assert themselves. The idea of a single "big brother" looking after everyone might be changing, leading to more competition and uncertainty in the global economic "family." We need to keep a close eye on these markets to see how things will turn out.