New record highs for Stock Indices; 2026 leaders maintain outperformance

As many Asian economies rang in the Year of the Horse last week, we shared the first iteration of this article titled, "Best performers so far in 2026, and their 12-month forecasts. Year of the Horse: Can they gallop higher?"

In that article published on Tuesday, February 17th, we highlighted 3 key themes:

1) New record highs for individual stocks (Applied Materials and Caterpillar) and even stock indices (Swiss 20 index)

2) Asian stock indices have mostly outperformed their Western peers so far in 2026

3) The weaker US dollar has in turn boosted metals (Gold and Silver), major commodities such as Oil, and other major currencies (EUR, GBP, AUD, etc.)