primeimages European equity markets began June 2026, with a mixed, highly cautious tone. The pan-European STOXX 50 and STOXX 600 indices dipped roughly 0.1%, weighed down by weak investor confidence over escalating Middle East tensions following recent U.S. airstrikes on Iranian military sites and subsequent Iranian retaliation. Despite the geopolitical overhang, a heavy wave of final May Manufact...
primeimages European equity markets began June 2026, with a mixed, highly cautious tone. The pan-European STOXX 50 and STOXX 600 indices dipped roughly 0.1%, weighed down by weak investor confidence over escalating Middle East tensions following recent U.S. airstrikes on Iranian military sites and subsequent Iranian retaliation. Despite the geopolitical overhang, a heavy wave of final May Manufacturing PMI data provided some relief, with several countries beating preliminary estimates. London ( UKX ) -0.17% at 10,391.43 . The S&P Global UK Manufacturing PMI rose to 53.9 in May , outpacing initial estimates and April’s 53.7 to log its strongest expansion since May 2022. Conversely, the Nationwide House Price Index cooled, rising 1.7% Y/Y in May (down from 3.0% in April), marking its softest growth in three months. Germany ( DAX:IND ) +0.26% to 25,172.89 . The S&P Global Manufacturing PMI was finalized higher at 50.1 (up from the 49.9 preliminary print), signaling fragile stabilization. Meanwhile, April Retail Sales fell 0.3% month-on-month, matching the previous month’s pace but beating expectations of a 0.4% drop. France ( CAC:IND ) +0.23% around 8,202.21 on Monday, tracking a general cautious mood . France's industrial sector suffered a setback as the S&P Global Manufacturing PMI plunged to 49.7 in May from 52.8 in April, slipping back into contraction territory (though remaining above the flash estimate of 48.9). In other parts of Europe, the S&P Global Spain Manufacturing PMI eased to 51.2 in May 2026 from 51.7 in April, below forecasts of 52, signaling a modest but slowing expansion. The S&P Global Eurozone Manufacturing PMI fell to 51.6 in May 2026, down from April’s near four-year high of 52.2 but slightly above the preliminary estimate of 51.4. Concurrently, Eurozone bank lending to households rose 3% year-over-year in April to €7.194 trillion, meeting expectations. The S&P Global Manufacturing PMI crawled up to 48.8 in May from 48.1 in April, though it remai...
U. S. equity futures traded modestly higher on Monday, pointing to a positive start for Wall Street even as fresh military exchanges between the United States and Iran cast doubt on efforts to secure a broader diplomatic agreement.
U. S. equity futures traded modestly higher on Monday, pointing to a positive start for Wall Street even as fresh military exchanges between the United States and Iran cast doubt on efforts to secure a broader diplomatic agreement.
Richard Drury/DigitalVision via Getty Images By Jeff Blazek The equity risk premium has effectively vanished. While it is a signal worth heeding, it is not cause for immediate alarm, particularly for portfolios that are genuinely diversified. In recent weeks we have seen equity markets routinely hit record highs, buoyed by strong first-quarter earnings and a reconviction among investors in the art...
Richard Drury/DigitalVision via Getty Images By Jeff Blazek The equity risk premium has effectively vanished. While it is a signal worth heeding, it is not cause for immediate alarm, particularly for portfolios that are genuinely diversified. In recent weeks we have seen equity markets routinely hit record highs, buoyed by strong first-quarter earnings and a reconviction among investors in the artificial intelligence (AI) investment theme, most visibly and powerfully demonstrated in the semiconductor sector . Yet at the same time, investor demand for select stocks has seemed almost insatiable—not all signals point the same way. By one measure, equities look as unattractive relative to bonds as they did during the dot-com bubble at the turn of the millennium. That measure (for U.S. large-cap stocks) is the equity risk premium (ERP), which is the return an investor expects from equities above what they could earn from risk-free bonds, such as U.S. Treasuries. For most of the past two decades, that premium has been meaningfully positive, rewarding investors for bearing equity risk. Today the earnings yield on the S&P 500 index—the profit companies generate relative to stock valuations, expressed as a percentage—is roughly equal to, or in some calculations below, the yield available on U.S. Treasuries, a development last seen most strikingly at the height of the dot-com bubble. A Yellow Flag Before drawing conclusions, a word of caution about the metric itself. The ERP, as conventionally measured, is something of an imperfect comparison. The yield to maturity on bonds represents the discount rate which equates the market bond price with guaranteed, fixed cash flows—you know precisely what you will receive up until the bond’s maturity. Equity cash flows, by contrast, are uncertain and largely grow over time. A stock that compounds earnings at 10% annually is a fundamentally different asset than a bond yielding 4.5%, even if today's snapshot makes them look equivalent. On...
Ozan Tarman, global macro vice chair at Deutsche Bank, discusses the artificial intelligence trade and how the industry could impact jobs. He speaks on Bloomberg Television. (Source: Bloomberg)
Ozan Tarman, global macro vice chair at Deutsche Bank, discusses the artificial intelligence trade and how the industry could impact jobs. He speaks on Bloomberg Television. (Source: Bloomberg)