“In a departure from the selloffs that preceded the U.K. referendum last June and the U.S. election in November, European stocks are showing little investor concern in the run-up to the French presidential election,” according to Bloomberg. “That’s because the Stoxx Europe 600 Index is pricing in expectations of a pickup in global growth rather than a political-risk discount, strategists at Deutsche Bank AG wrote in a note.”
Investors who believe the euro currency will continue to weaken and are bullish on the Eurozone’s outlook can turn to currency-hedged ETF options, such as the the Deutsche X-trackers MSCI EMU Hedged Equity ETF (NYSEArca: DBEZ), iShares Currency Hedged MSCI EMU ETF (NYSEArca: HEZU) and WisdomTree Europe Hedged Equity Fund (NYSEArca: HEDJ). These currency-hedged Europe ETFs may outperform non-hedged Europe funds if the euro continues to depreciate against the U.S. dollar.
The Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF (NYSEArca: VGK) is the largest dedicated Europe ETF trading in the U.S. Investors should note VGK is not a dedicated Eurozone ETF as highlighted by its hefty weights to the U.K., Switzerland and some Nordic countries.
As the Eurozone’s second-largest economy behind Germany, France is often an integral part of many diversified Europe ETFs.
For more information on the European markets, visit our Europe category.