From Matt Wagner: There’s no sugarcoating it: the performance of European equities in 2018 has been disappointing. The weak performance year-to-date, as measured by the -10.56% return for the MSCI Europe Index,1 has been accompanied by a marked slowdown in economic growth in the eurozone.
From BlackRock: Richard Turnill checks in on the risks out of the euro zone.
From Franklin Templeton Investments: The months of July and August are traditionally a little quieter for markets in Europe as participants take a summer break.
From Franklin Templeton Investments: The European Central Bank’s June meeting has offered some long-hoped-for clarity on the future direction of monetary policy in the eurozone. However, it hasn’t provided all the answers, and much remains to interpretation.
From Zacks: The European Central Bank’s (ECB) latest meeting held on Apr 26, 2018 hinted at moderation in economic growth and the need to keep the policy rate constant. The ECB reaffirmed its intention to go slow about the possibilities of withdrawing the Euro-area stimulus.
From Zacks: The Eurozone was a strong performer in 2017, owing to strong economic growth and fundamentals. However, the global market sell-off in early February might have weighed on the performance of the 19-nation bloc.
From BlackRock: Jeff Rosenberg details our take on the European Central Bank’s expected policy shift and its potential market implications.
From BlackRock: Richard Turnill spells out what a steadier political environment in Europe means for investors.
From Rob Bush: Well, the storm of Eurozone disintegration that was threatening to engulf Europe has, it seems, abated for now.
From Zacks: The Eurozone saw a strong start to the year thanks to economic improvement and upbeat corporate earnings. The economy grew 0.5% sequentially in Q1 of 2017, meeting market expectations.
From BlackRock: Isabelle Mateos y Lago shares BlackRock’s key views on the final French election result, including what Emmanuel Macron’s win could mean for markets.
From BlackRock: Isabelle Mateos y Lago shares BlackRock’s take on the French election first round result, the remaining candidates and what this might mean for the markets.
Terror attacks or not, European equity markets continue to march higher in the short-term, and we have seen end-of-the-quarter inflows into the third largest fund in the space, EZU (iShares MSCI Eurozone, Expense Ratio 0.50%, $8.8 billion in AUM).
For most of the current decade, the U.S. stock market has been the place to be. In fact, no other major region of the world has even come close to its performance.
From BlackRock: Markets are anxious about upcoming European elections, but Richard Turnill explains why near-term political risks are probably overstated.