Emerging markets outperform US stocks in 2026, MSCI EM up 24.6% YTD vs S&P 500's 12.1%

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index has substantially outperformed the S&P 500 in 2026. By late August, the EM index was up about 24.6% year-to-date, compared to roughly 12.1% for the S&P 500, a gap of more than 12 percentage points. The 'ex-America' trade appears to be gaining momentum.