Stock markets in 2021: from big tech and crypto to takeovers

Stock markets in 2021: from big tech and crypto to takeovers

The financial markets climbed a wall of worry through 2021, as investors drove up asset prices in the face of persistently high inflation, a global supply chain crisis and one of the most frenzied speculative booms in decades.

Shares rallied to record levels as money poured into stocks, deal-making soared and the gamification of investing hit new heights. Here are some of the biggest moments from a rollercoaster year.

The year’s drama began on Wall Street, where groups of retail traders teamed up through online forums to attempt one of the biggest short squeezes in market history.