SYDNEY (Thursday, 13 January 2022) – Asia Pacific Shariah-compliant equities fell behind the rest of the world in 2021, hammered by Chinese government’s crackdown on its technology giants. The Dow Jones Islamic Markets Asia Pacific closed the year down 6.01%, while DJIM Asia Pacific ex-Japan shed 6.67%.
The US Shariah-compliant equities were the best performers last year, followed by the GCC markets. The Dow Jones Islamic Market US Index finished the year up 27.79%, while the DJIM GCC closed the year up 25.38%. Gold, which mostly traded sideways throughout the year, ended 3% lower at the close of 2021 at USD 1829.72/oz.
The Chinese government, in April, fined Alibaba Group 18.3 billion yuan ($3.7bn) for anti-competitive behaviour. This followed their scuppering of Alibaba’s Ant Group’s IPO in November 2020.
Big technology and healthcare stocks in the US, on the other hand, kept the US markets buoyant. Government stimulus such as infrastructure spending and low interest rates kept the US economy humming along. Improving macroeconomics as a consequence of government fiscal measures and improvement in the oil prices kept GCC equities buoyed.
| Close at 31.12.21 | 1-Yr 31.12.2020 | 2-Yr 31.12.2019 | 3-Yr 31.12.2018 | 5-Yr 30.12.2016 | 10-Yr 31.12.2011 | |
| DJIM Global | 6454.14 | 5447.13 18.5% | 4292.58 50.36% | 3334.38 93.56% | 2906.61 122.05% | 2069.15 211.92% |
| DJIM A/PAC | 2707.46 | 2880.70 -6.01% | 2154.60 25.66% | 1763.28 53.55% | 1525.78 77.45% | 1275.51 112.27% |
| DJIM APAC Ex-Japan | 2496.60 | 2675.10 -6.67% | 1956.11 27.63% | 1615.15 54.57% | 1358.19 83.82% | 1255.64 106.80% |
| DJIM US | 9857.31 | 7713.53 27.79% | 6017.29 63.82% | 4578.16 115.31% | 5999.59 64.30% | 2330.15 323.03% |
| DJIEU | 5499.20 | 4824.63 13.99% | 4159.05 32.22% | 3230.84 70.21% | 2926.27 87.93% | 2435.19 125.82% |
| DJ GCC | 2424.60 | 1933.87 25.38% | 1844.95 31.42% | 1774.55 36.63% | 1734.90 39.75% | 1507.11 60.88% |
| Spot Gold USD NY Close | 1829.72 | 1884.44 -2.90% | 1555.98 17.59% | 1805.78 1.33% | 1237.27 47.88% | 1643.80 11.31% |
| S&P Global REIT Shariah | 227.13 | 157.37 44.33% | 150.24 51.18% | 124.14 82.96% | 121.56 86.87% | N.A. |
Source: Compiled from publicly available material
Notes:
- DJIM World – Dow Jones Islamic Market World Index measures the performance of 2,747 Shariah-compliant stocks traded globally.
- DJIM Asia/Pac– Dow Jones Asia Pacific Islamic Index top 10 holdings include Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.
- Spot Gold prices are from TradingView.com. -/- www.halaluniverse.net
