France tops MSCI’s equity indices for second consecutive month

May 2nd, 2017 | By | Category: ETF and Index News

Leading index provider to the exchange-traded fund industry MSCI has released its performance report for April 2017, breaking down the best and worst performing equity indices over this period by country, factor and sector.

France tops MSCI’s equity indices for second consecutive month

France was the best performer within MSCI’s range of country equity indices for the second consecutive month, gaining 5.4% in April and 6.3% in March.

MSCI reports the highest index returns in April were achieved by France, for country exposure; quality, for factor exposure; and consumer discretionary, for sector exposure.

Single Country Index Rankings

The best performing country was France (5.4%) and the worst was Canada (-2.1%), while the broad market average, represented by the return on the MSCI All Country World Index (ACWI), was 1.6%. Switzerland, Germany, China and the UK also managed to outperform the ACWI over this period.

Using the forward Price-to-Earnings ratio, the most expensive country is the USA with a forward P/E of 18.0 and the cheapest, Korea with a forward P/E of 9.3, while the market (ACWI) forward P/E is 16.0.

China (12.4), Japan (13.9), Germany (14.0), the UK (14.3), France (15.3), Canada (15.4) and Australia (15.9) are also trading at forward P/E ratios below the market average.

The country with the largest year-to-date (YTD) index growth is Korea (18.1%). China (15.9%), France (13.2%), Switzerland (13.0%), Germany (11.8%) and Australia (10.2%) have also outperformed the ACWI’s YTD return of 8.8%.

Source: MSCI.

Source: MSCI.

Factor Index Rankings

The best performing factor during March was quality (2.1%) and the worst was high dividend yield (0.9%), while the market ACWI returned 1.6%.

Momentum (2.1%), equal-weighted (1.9%) and risk-weighted (1.8%) also outperformed the broad market ACWI over this period.

Using the forward P/E, the most expensive factor is minimum volatility USD with a forward P/E of 18.7 and the cheapest, enhanced value with a forward P/E of 10.0, while the market (ACWI) forward P/E is 16.0.

High dividend yield (14.1), equal-weighted (15.2) and risk-weighted (16.0) strategies are also trading at forward P/E ratios below the market average ACWI forward P/E of 16.0.

The factor with the strongest YTD index growth is momentum (11.4%). Quality (11.2%), equal-weighted (10.2%), risk-weighted (9.6%) and enhanced value (8.9%) have also outperformed the ACWI’s 8.8% YTD return.

Source: MSCI.

Source: MSCI.

Sector Index Rankings

The best performing sector was consumer discretionary (2.9%) and the worst was energy (-1.9%), while the market ACWI returned 1.6%.

Information technology (2.8%), industrials (2.8%), healthcare (1.9%) and consumer staples (1.8%) also outperformed the ACWI over this period.

Using the forward P/E, the most expensive sector is real estate with a forward P/E of 22.0 and the cheapest, financials with a forward P/E of 12.1, while the market (ACWI) forward P/E is 16.0.

Telecoms (14.6), materials (15.0), and utilities (15.4) are also trading at a forward P/E ratio below the market average ACWI forward P/E of 16.0.

The sector with the strongest YTD return is information technology with a 16.3% gain. Consumer discretionary (11.1%), healthcare (10.6%), industrials (10.3%) and consumer staples (9.2%) have also outperformed the ACWI’s 8.8% YTD return.

Source: MSCI.

Source: MSCI.

Tags: , , , , ,

Leave a Comment