Sharp market weakness "an overreaction", says UBS
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SHARP MARKET WEAKNESS "AN OVERREACTION", SAYS UBS
UBS European equity strategists think the recent sharp selloff in global stock markets is an "overreaction" and highlight immediate opportunities in European quality stocks and defensive growth parts of the market.
Global indices were in meltdown on Monday, with the rout initially prompted by Friday's weaker-than-expected U.S. jobs data and exacerbated by the unwinding of carry trades.
According to the UBS team, Friday's U.S. data was merely the straw that broke the camel's back. They point to an "astonishing series" of recent macro events preceding it, including but not limited to Biden being replaced by Harris in the U.S. presidential election, Trump's assassination attempt, the UK's snap election and over-investment concerns around the AI theme.
The jobs data "was only incrementally negative and potentially heavily impacted by Hurricane Beryl," they say.
So why the massive sell-off?
Amongst the different ways they're thinking about it, the economics of volatility stand out.
"After a period of low stock correlation driving low volatility and low vol-of-vol, complacency was vulnerable," they write.
And rising volatility creates forced sellers.
So amongst the chaos, what should investors consider when making their next move?
"Volatility supports 'quality' demand", says UBS.
They mention RELX REL.L and ASML ASML.AS as quality stocks in sectors they like.
Opportunity also lurks in defensive growth names, with utilities in particular standing out.
"We have liked Utilities for several months now for their appealing earnings growth on modest valuations," says UBS.
The space should benefit more from lower bond yields and be less impacted by higher credit spreads than other sectors.
UBS analysts are bullish on European utilities with an average of 26% expected total returns on Buy-rated names currently.
(Lucy Raitano)
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