World Stock Market Heatmap

Each tile is a US-listed country ETF (e.g. SPY, EWJ, EWG, MCHI), so all tiles trade in one currency and one session and stay directly comparable. Educational only, not financial advice.

Each tile is the day's percentage change of a fund that tracks one country's stock market. Instead of the local indices, which close at different times and trade in different currencies, this map uses US-listed country ETFs. They all trade during US hours in US dollars, so every tile is live and comparable at the same moment, rather than mixing a live Nikkei with a closed FTSE and a pre-open S&P 500.

The trade-off is worth stating plainly: when a foreign market is closed, its ETF reflects the US-hours estimate of that market plus the currency move, not the exact local index print. So a tile answers "how is that market doing, as a dollar investor sees it right now" rather than "what did the local index close at." For the exact local indices in real time, the live dashboard shows the FTSE, DAX, Nikkei, Hang Seng and more directly.

• Mostly green vs mostly red tells you the day's risk mood at a glance, before any single number.
• One region red while others are green flags a localized story, an election, a rate decision, a currency move, rather than a global one.
• Brightness separates a quiet drift from a real move: a pale tile is noise, a saturated one is a day worth reading about.
• The leaders-first sort puts the day's best and worst markets at the top and bottom of each region, so the outliers find you.

Colour is never the only signal: every tile also shows the country, the percentage and the ticker, so the map is readable without relying on red-green vision.

How are world stock markets doing today?

The map above is the answer, live: green markets are up on the day, red are down, brighter means a bigger move, grouped by region and refreshed about once a minute while the US market is open.

Why country ETFs instead of the FTSE or Nikkei directly?

Local indices close at different times in different currencies, so comparing them live is misleading. US-listed country ETFs all trade in US hours and dollars, so the tiles stay comparable. For the exact local indices in real time, use the dashboard.

What do the colours mean?

Green up, red down, intensity scaling with the move and saturating near plus or minus 2.5 percent; near-flat markets show neutral. The number and country are written on every tile too.

Is it free and real-time?

Yes, free and no signup, refreshing roughly once a minute while the US market is open and showing the last close when markets are shut.

• The live dashboard: indices, crypto, FX, commodities and yields streaming on one screen, with the exact local indices in real time.
• How the markets move each other: why a red day in one region often spreads, through rates, the dollar and risk sentiment.
• Financial markets guide: what every instrument on the dashboard means.