The decade of shrinking global stock markets is finally over We’re sorry, this service is currently unavailable. Please try again later. Dismiss By Justina Lee and Lu Wang May 3, 2021 — 4.10pm Normal text size Thanks to record issuance, the SPAC boom and the pandemic-fuelled collapse in buybacks, the supply of equities across the developed world has turned positive for the first time in a decade, according to Sanford C. Bernstein. At $US273 billion ($354 billion) in the 12 months through the end of March, the hand-wringing over the de-equitisation trends of the post-financial crisis era is well and truly over. What started as a rush to shore up balance sheets during the COVID crisis has morphed into a spree of deals to tap relentless investor appetite for a market defying historic valuations. From Coinbase and Deliveroo to celebrity blank-check firms, initial and secondary offerings jumped to a record $US208 billion in the 13 weeks to April 9, Ned Davis Research data show.