The Russell Eurozone Index is showing that European equity markets have made a strong start to 2013, showing 2.4% returns year-to-date as of January 7.
Dynamic-oriented stocks have outperformed defensive-oriented stocks for this same time period, with the Russell Eurozone Dynamic Index returning 3.4% and the Russell Eurozone Defensive Index returning 1.1%. This follows a similar pattern from the fourth quarter in 2012.
The Russell Eurozone Index has indicated that Greece (+8.7%) has been the top performing country so far in 2013, followed by Finland (+5.3%) and Italy (+4.2%).
“European equities remain volatile and far too dependent on policy progress yet have shown strong relative performance as evidenced by the recent index returns,” said Wouter Sturkenboom, investment strategist with Russell Investments Europe. “Recent returns for the European equity markets suggest that crisis-level policy concerns may have abated somewhat in this region as the U.S., at least temporarily, solved its ‘fiscal cliff’ issue. And strong performance by dynamic-oriented European stocks in Q4 and 2013 to date suggests a continued ‘risk-on’ stance by European investors.”