Measured economic recovery is expected throughout Europe

Having reached a low point in early March, European equity markets have rebounded strongly in recent months.

Investors who followed the old maxim of “sell in May and go away” might now have a few regrets. The FTSE World Europe ex UK Index is now up by 15.3% over the last three months, and has outperformed both the US and UK equity markets in sterling terms. During August, European markets were spurred by the positive surprise that France and Germany were officially out of recession, with the economies recording positive GDP growth during the Q2. The summer corporate results season has also been encouraging, as we have seen a succession of high-profile earnings upgrades. With indicators such as ...