The market value of the world’s 100 largest listed companies fell 11% from April 2022 to March 2023 to $30.86 trillion, the first significant decline since 2009, according to PwC’s global analysis of the “Top 100 Companies by Market Capitalization.” . Between April 2021 and March 2022, the market value reached a record $34.7 trillion.

“The development reflects a challenging context for equities due to continued fiscal tightening and record inflation, coupled with uncertainty in the US and European banking sector. In the Romanian capital market, the top five companies by market value are dominated by the energy and banking sectors, with most companies registering a decrease in capitalization in 2022 compared to 2021. The rating may change this year after Hidroelectrica goes public. , the largest producer of green electricity in Romania. Hidroelectrica’s listing could be the largest initial public offering in Romania and possibly in Eastern Europe, generating a high level of interest from foreign institutional investors,” said Dinu Bumbecea, managing partner of PwC in Romania.

Despite a surprise rebound in the first quarter of 2023, the global technology sector fell 8% in the year ended March 31, the first decline in a decade.

Companies in the financials and consumer sectors were the hardest hit, with declines accounting for 56% of the total drop in market capitalization due to exits and declines.

The Industrials sector performed well, with market capitalization up 45%, mainly due to four new entries into the Top 100.

Energy prices fell by 12%, uneven among the seven leading energy companies.

Despite the volatile macroeconomic context, Europe was the only region to record annual growth of 9.5%, placing it second on the regional list. This was thanks to four new applications and very good results in Denmark (+40%), Germany (+18%) and France (+17%).

The company’s market value in the US fell by 12%, but it retained the first place in the regions with the largest number of companies included in the ranking.

The market value of companies in China and its regions fell by 7%, despite the fact that a new entrant entered the top 100.

The rest of the world faced a tough year, with three exits from the top 100 and a decline in the market capitalization of the Saudi Arabia-based energy company.

Winners against losers

The top five remain unchanged: Apple, Microsoft, Saudi Aramco, Alphabet and Amazon, but they accounted for 50% of the total drop in market capitalization. All five companies were down year-over-year, with the largest decline at 36% for Amazon, followed by 28% for Alphabet.

Despite the general slowdown in the technology sector, Microsoft retained the second position on the list, while Apple dropped for the first time since 2016. Saudi Aramco recorded a significant drop of 18%.

As of March 31, 2023, the top ten companies were rounded out by NVIDIA, Berkshire Hathaway, Tesla, Meta Platforms and Visa Inc.

Novo Nordisk (Denmark), Merck & Co (USA) and Deutsche Telekom (Germany) registered the largest increase in market capitalization, while Tesla, Amazon.com and Intel Corporation reported the largest decrease.

Article supported by PwC Romania