The UK is the second most “oversold” country in Europe based on the performance of its equities.
That’s the conclusion of research by Morgan Stanley, which assessed a series of key performance, sentiment, valuation and fundamental trends.
Portugal ranks just below the UK as the continent’s most “unloved” share trading economy.
Rather than this lowly status being a problem, it may present an opportunity, the Wall Street bank concluded in its latest note.
On a price-to-earnings basis the UK is close to an all-time low, while earnings per share (EPS) trends have been “resilient”, it pointed out.
Morgan Stanley said it expected ‘superior’ EPS growth from the FTSE 100 this year, while earnings and dividend momentum is “building”.
The UK index of blue-chip shares is up 8% in the year to date but has been eclipsed by France’s CAC-40, ahead 18%, and S&P 500, up 16% in that time.