Equity prices - the year in review

Here is a quick review of world equity markets in 2008:

FTSE All Share index fell 32 percent, the worst annual decline in 24 years.

Germany’s Xetra Dax fell 40.3 per cent, its worst annual performance in its 20-year history.

The CAC 40 in Paris was down 42.1 per cent.

FTSE Eurofirst 300 suffered an annual decline of 44.7 per cent, its worst year since the index was constituted in 1986.

The Nikkei 225 index fell 42.1 per cent.

Korea's Kospi index ended the year with a loss of 40.7 per cent.

The S&P 500 has fallen 41 per cent this year; the worst decline since the 47.1 per cent ifall recorded in 1931 during the Great Depression.

It all make the 16 percent fall in house prices (from their peak in October 2007) seem rather tame.