Eurozone stocks also turning around amid some better-than-expected earnings results and speculation that poor economic data from across the globe could keep the loose monetary policy environment here for longer, Bloomberg reports.
If the Federal Reserve pushes off on hiking its interest rates, other central banks, like the European Central Bank, could be more inclined to expand quantitative easing to maintain a weaker currency against the U.S. dollar.
“So, given a Fed on hold, we could see other central banks, including the ECB and BoJ, augmenting their own monetary stimulus measures in order to weaken their currencies,” Heidi Richardson, Managing Director, is the Head of U.S. Investment Strategy for iShares, said in a research note. “The likelihood of continued easy money is one of the reasons I see a compelling case for considering exposure to stocks in Japan and Europe, and within Europe, to large exporter Germany in particular. It’s true, of course, that the ultimate path of monetary policy—and the dollar—remain uncertain.”
ETF investors can gain exposure to the Eurozone through the iShares MSCI EMU ETF (NYSEArca: EZU) and SPDR EURO STOXX 50 (NYSEArca: FEZ). Investors can also turn to euro-currency hedged ETFs to help diminish the negative effects of a stronger dollar or weaker euro currency. EUR-hedged Eurozone ETF options include the Deutsche X-trackers MSCI EMU Hedged Equity ETF (NYSEArca: DBEZ), iShares Currency Hedged MSCI EMU ETF (NYSEArca: HEZU) and HEDJ.
For Germany exposure, investors can take a look at the iShares MSCI Germany ETF (NYSEArca: EWG). Additionally, for hedged Germany exposure, investors can turn to the iShares Currency Hedged MSCI Germany ETF (NYSEArca: HEWG), Deutsche X-trackers MSCI Germany Hedged Equity Fund (NYSEArca: DBGR) and WisdomTree Germany Hedged Equity Fund (NasdaqGM: DXGE).
For more information on Europe, visit our Europe category.
Max Chen contributed to this article.