JP Morgan Asset Management strategist Karen Ward says long-standing investor
aversion to European equities now presents a buy opportunity. With oil back near
early-war levels and AI-led gains lifting US and Asian markets, European stocks
look relatively cheap. Valuation discounts versus the US have narrowed since
last month as markets increasingly price a resolution to the conflict. Oil fell
further on Thursday after US President Trump signed an interim agreement to end
the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Ward adds that if the Iran dispute
recedes and a final deal lifts oil, Europe’s upside should be released as
investors rotate away from US assets—fearing an AI peak—into international
markets.
