An equity market crash in the euro zone?
The weakness of the European equity market compared with the US market since the start of 2018 has been impressive, and cannot be explained: By the outlook for earnings per share or share buybacks, which are, admittedly , more favourable in the United States, but not in a proportion that justifies the difference in equity market performance; Or by the outlook for interest rates, on the contrary in fact. The decline in the European equity market may then be explained by : Euro-zone links with emerging countries in trouble (Argentina, Turkey); US protectionist threats against Europe; The risk that another peripheral euro-zone country crisis may be triggered, starting from Italy; The fact that the euro zone is a more open economy than the United States; that euro-zone companies are more internationalised than US companies, and therefore suffer more from a global cyclical slowdown. All things considered, the euro-zone equity market is more sensitive to risks than the US market .