“Europe appears to be a safe harbour for investors who look for predictability,” the CEO of pan-European stock exchange Euronext said to Euronews Business.
European stock markets have seen US investments flocking to this side of the Atlantic in the last three months, partially due to the “uncertainty and volatility around decisions taken in the US,” CEO of Euronext Stéphane Boujnah said to Euronews’ Angela Barnes.
“The perception of Europe is that it’s a safe harbour because predictability is there, even if GDP growth is so far perceived as being lower than in the US.”
Currently, the most important sector of investment in Europe with public money, is defence. While defence spending remains key to discussions on Thursday and Friday, during the EU Summit in Brussels, share prices in European weapons stocks have surged.
“Euronext is facing spectacular growth in the volumes we trade or across all asset classes, but in particular in shares and more specifically the increase of the growth of the stock price of the defence sector across Europe,” Boujnah said.
Germany’s Rheinmetall, France’s Thales and Italy’s Leonardo are among the companies that have seen a boost over the past month.
Boujnah believes that Europe’s commitment to structure its defence policy in a fundamentally new way is a trend that is going to continue.
American multinational investment bank Morgan Stanley has just raised the price target on Rheinmetall shares to €2,000 from €1,300 but suggested the stock could also double to €3,000 if European defence spending accelerates with high speed.
Watch the interview above.
