Global markets, explained by region and asset class

• MarketsHow the main asset classes are organised and traded: equities, foreign exchange, commodities, crypto assets and market indices, with sessions, participants and terminology.
• GeographyThe world's markets by region: the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia, Asia, the Middle East and emerging markets, with venues, trading hours, currencies and regulators.
• StocksA stock, or share, represents a fractional ownership stake in a company. Buying a share gives the holder a proportional claim on the company's assets and future earnings, and in most cases a vote at shareholder meetings. Companies first sell shares to the public through an initial public offering, after which the shares trade between investors on regulated exchanges or through licensed brokers. Prices move continuously while a market is open, reflecting company results, industry trends, interest rates and broader economic data as they are published.
• ForexForeign exchange, or forex, is the market in which one currency is exchanged for another. It is decentralised: rather than a single exchange, trading takes place electronically between banks, brokers and other participants around the world. Currencies are always quoted in pairs, since buying one currency means simultaneously selling another. The forex market operates nearly continuously on business days as trading passes between financial centres in Asia, Europe and the Americas, making it one of the largest and most continuously active markets described on this site.
• CommoditiesA commodity is a basic physical good that is largely interchangeable with other units of the same good, such as a barrel of crude oil or a bushel of wheat. Commodities are typically traded through standardised futures contracts on organised exchanges rather than as physical goods changing hands directly between traders. They are commonly grouped into energy, metals and agricultural categories, each with its own supply chains, seasonal patterns and set of participants ranging from producers and consumers to financial investors.
• CryptoCrypto assets are digital assets recorded on a blockchain, a distributed and cryptographically secured ledger maintained across a network of computers rather than by a single central authority. Bitcoin, launched in 2009, was the first widely adopted cryptocurrency; thousands of other tokens have followed, with varying designs and purposes. Crypto assets trade nearly around the clock on online exchanges, and their legal treatment, tax handling and regulatory oversight differ significantly from one country to another.
• Economic calendarUpcoming scheduled economic data releases and monetary policy meetings for the United States, the United Kingdom, the euro area and Australia, from official calendars.
• Market newsLatest headlines from the Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, the Bank of England, the Reserve Bank of Australia, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics and the UK Office for National Statistics.

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1. Construction statistics, Great Britain: 2025UK Office for National StatisticsGBPublished 23 Oct 2026
2. Labour demand volumes by Standard Occupation Classification (SOC 2020), UK: January 2017 to September 2026UK Office for National StatisticsGBPublished 23 Oct 2026
3. UK trade, quarterly goods and services: April to June 2026UK Office for National StatisticsGBPublished 23 Oct 2026
4. Estimates of the very old, including centenarians, UK: 2002 to 2025UK Office for National StatisticsGBPublished 23 Oct 2026
5. Indicators of house building, UK: permanent dwellings started and completed by country: Q2 2026UK Office for National StatisticsGBPublished 23 Oct 2026
6. UK trade in services by partner country: April to June 2026UK Office for National StatisticsGBPublished 23 Oct 2026

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