Nevertheless, earnings-per-share growth is still higher than in the U.S. and may continue to drive eurozone equity outperformance.
“Even with strong performance year-to-date and slight downward revisions in still-positive earnings, eurozone equities remain good values compared to developed market counterparts such as the United States and we continue to see them as an attractive opportunity moving forward,” according to BlackRock.
ETF investors who are still interested in the Europe story have a number of options available, such as the iShares Core MSCI Europe ETF (NYSEArca: IEUR), which is seen as a cheaper “core” alternative to older iShares Europe ETF (NYSEArca: IEV), along with the iShares MSCI EMU ETF (NYSEArca: EZU), which is comprised of of euro member states,
Alternatively, investors who believe the euro currency could weaken after its recent rally 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 depreciates against the U.S. dollar.
For more information on European markets, visit our Europe category.