European markets are on their fourth consecutive week of gains and pushed to new highs on Friday, lifting international stock exchange traded funds.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index hit a record high of 476.16 on Friday and gained for the tenth consecutive session, matching its best winning streak since December 2006, despite concerns over the rise of the Covid-19 Delta variant, Reuters reports.
“If investors are concerned about rising Delta variant cases globally there’s little evidence that it is prompting any undue worry, although markets in Asia have been a little more cautious,” Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK, told Reuters.
Meanwhile, shares in the Asia-Pacific region dipped in Friday’s session, with South Korea’s Kospi falling behind among major markets as conglomerate Samsung retreated following the release of the company’s heir from prison, CNBC reports.
MSCI’s aggregate gauge of global stock markets also hit a new record high overnight.
“Arguably, markets are now more focused on the state of play regarding Covid, and in particular, the spread of the Delta variant,” Xian Chan, chief investment officer for wealth management at HSBC, said in a note. “But regardless of where you look, the general view (and hope) is the broad success of vaccination programmes will allow the recovery story to continue in H2 this year.”
Investors interested in international markets can consider ETF strategies for foreign exposure. For example, the Avantis International Equity ETF (AVDE) is built upon an academically-supported, market-tested framework to identify securities with expected high returns based on market prices and other company information. Relying on trading and portfolio management processes, the Avantis team analyzes whether the perceived benefits of a trade overcome its associated costs and risk. AVDE primarily invests in a diverse group of companies of all market capitalizations across non-U.S. developed market countries, sectors, and industries, emphasizing investment in companies believed to have higher expected returns.
Additionally, the American Century Quality Diversified International ETF (NYSEArca: QINT) utilizes the American Century Investments Intelligent Beta methodology, which systematizes many of the same attributes that fundamental research and security selection seek to identify in a rules-based, indexed approach. QINT is a large foreign blend fund that seeks to enhance core international exposure. Its rules-based approach analyzes each stock’s quality, growth, and value characteristics to select individual securities. It also dynamically adjusts exposures to take advantage of prevailing market conditions.
For more news, information, and strategy, visit the Core Strategies Channel.
