Evidence needed to sustain recovery

The second quarter of 2003 has seen a tremendous surge in global equity markets and Europe has been at the forefront of this recovery. During the first half of the year, the FTSE Eurotop 300 (ex UK) has risen 10.8% in dollar terms. This compares with a rise of 7.7% for the US Dow Jones Index and 4.6% for the Japanese Nikkei 225. The first question must be why equity investors have been attracted to Europe in particular. Secondly, and more importantly still, is whether such outperformance can continue during the second half of the year. To some extent, the answer to the first question...