European markets and related exchange traded funds (ETFs) were leading the market rebound Thursday ahead of widely observed “Brexit” vote.
The European Stoxx 600 ended 1.5% higher Thursday. Meanwhile, in the U.S., the iShares MSCI EMU ETF (NYSEArca: EZU) added 2.7% and the SPDR EURO STOXX 50 (NYSEArca: FEZ) returned 2.8%. The two ETFs both focus on Eurozone countries.
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Additionally, more peripheral European markets charged ahead Thursday, with the iShares MSCI Italy Capped ETF (NYSEArca: EWI) up 4.4%, Global X MSCI Norway 30 ETF (NYSEArca: NORW) 3.7% higher and Global X MSCI Greece ETF (NYSEArca: GREK) up 3.8%.
Meanwhile, the iShares MSCI United Kingdom ETF’s (NYSEArca: EWU), the largest U.K.-related ETF, gained 1.8%, and the CurrencyShares British Pound Sterling Trust (NYSEArca: FXB) rose 0.7%. British assets have been strengthening over the past week, suggesting that traders are growing less concerned about a potential “leave” vote passing.
Global equities markets seemed optimistic heading into the U.K. vote on its European Union membership, despite polls showing a neck-to-neck race, CNBC reports.
“I think the market’s already voted. … It looks like they’re looking for the stay vote to prevail,” Adam Sarhan, CEO of Sarhan Capital, said told CNBC.
In two surveys conducted June 21 and 22, the “remain” camp was shown to be in the lead, Bloomberg reports. Voters have until 10 P.M. London time, or about two more hours as of writing, to cast their ballot in the referendum. First results are expected around 7 P.M. New York time, with the final tally due at about 2 A.M. Friday.
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“I think the market jumped the gun,” Gennadiy Goldberg, an interest-rate strategist at TD Securities LLC, told Bloomberg. “Today’s market move is what I would have expected from a ‘Remain’ win tomorrow.”
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iShares MSCI EMU ETF