Economics
Cheap French Stocks Turn Heads as Economy Shows Life Signs
- Over Two thirds of CAC 40 members trade below December levels
- Hollande’s reforms seen slowly helping economic revival
La Defense business district in Paris.
Photographer: Christophe Morin/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Battered by delays to economic reforms and a lackluster recovery, French stocks have been left with at least one positive attribute: their valuations
More than two thirds of the benchmark CAC 40 Index’s members have fallen this year as investor concerns over domestic growth and the success of President Francois Hollande’s policies amplify wider anxiety about global growth, earnings and the efficacy of central bank measures. Down 3.7 percent in 2016, stocks in the euro-area’s second-largest economy are the cheapest in three years relative to their peers, and some fund managers are turning bullish.