Surprise result over which European stock market investors look to invest

The UK stock market is the preferred choice for investors in European indexes, according to a regional survey from the Bank of America.

From July to August, the number of respondents who said they would take outsized stakes in UK stocks over the next year jumped significantly.

Those claiming they would take an “overweight” proportion of UK equities compared to the benchmark index jumped to more than net 30% from less than 10% in July.

Respondents favoured Swiss equities in second place, followed by stocks in Italy, France, and then Spain.

The German market was the least favoured among investors, with more than net 30% of respondents saying they would be “underweight” on these stocks.

The results showed a slight change from last month, when the UK and Spain were roughly tied for the top spot.

UK success a marked change from 18 months ago

When the survey was done 18 months ago, however, UK stocks were the most unpopular on a global scale.

This came at a period of high inflation for the nation and followed a dramatic selloff in British assets, the result of a radical mini-budget proposed by then-Prime Minister Liz Truss.

In September 2022, Truss proposed £45bn of unfunded tax cuts, a move which provoked market panic.

The Bank of America survey was carried out between 2 August and 8 August and included 122 participants with $265bn (€240.80bn) in assets.