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Investors cautioned that tax breaks would not be sufficient to raise business investment while UK interest rates stayed high. But Wednesday, equity markets focused on Hunt's business boosts, such as a move to make full expensing on investment permanent. UK stock markets have underperformed their European and U.S. peers in 2023. The FTSE 100 index 12-month forward price-to-earnings ratio is around 10.7, about half that of U.S. stocks, with Hunt's budget unlikely to move the dial too far. Reuters GraphicsSTERLING SOGGYThe pound struggled to gain any traction on the back of Hunt's budget.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Kwasi Kwarteng, Leigh Himsworth, Simon Harvey, Philip Shaw, Thomas McGarrity, Fuller, Smith, Turner, Oli Creasey, It's, BoE, GILTS, Craig Erlam, Goldman Sachs, Naomi Rovnick, Samuel Indyk, Lucy Raitano, Amanda Cooper, Harry Robertson, Angus MacSwan Organizations: REUTERS, Wednesday, Traders, Investors, Fidelity International, Reuters Graphics, Bank of England, BT, Investec, RBC Wealth Management, Reuters, BREWERS, Debt Management, Reuters Graphics STERLING, Thomson Locations: U.S, Cheviot, gilts, London

McKinsey says generative AI could add $7.3 trillion in value to the world economy each year and believes half of today's work activities could be automated between 2030 and 2060. The latest Bank of America survey in June showed 29% of global investors don't expect AI to increase profits or jobs. "There's a lot of focus on the risks that generative AI can bring. He sounded confident over the capacity of some professional information and data providers, which own proprietary data, to integrate generative AI into their products. Cristina Matti, small and midcaps portfolio manager at Amundi, said indiscriminate investing was not an option for investors seeking AI exposure.

Persons: Gilles Guibout, UK's Pearson, Chegg, Pearson, Thomas McGarrity, Andrea Scauri, Scauri, Capgemini, Cristina Matti, Danilo Masoni, Lucy Raitano, Chizu Organizations: Nvidia, McKinsey, AXA Investment, Bank of America, Microsoft, RBC Wealth Management, Accenture, Thomson Locations: MILAN, Europe, United States, Paris, Lemanik, Amundi

☆ European equity investors hunt for big returns in small places
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-15 | by ( Lucy Raitano | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The MSCI Europe SMID index of European small to mid-cap firms (.MIEU000D0PEU) is trading near 2008 lows versus the wider market in terms of valuations, including both price/earnings and price-to-book ratios. The bank's small cap basket is invested across sectors, or 'sector neutral', to make it "less prone to the ups and downs of cyclical acceleration and deceleration." But M&A remains a supportive theme, said Amundi's Matti, as big players seeking external growth can look to the small cap sector for niche expertise to add to their portfolios. "When people are trying to find alpha to add to their portfolio, small caps tend to be the place to look at," said Matti. "Ultimately, they (small caps) are a rich hunting ground for long-term investors."

Persons: Dash, Emmanuel Cau, Amundi, Cristina Matti, Amundi's Matti, Matti, Graham Secker, Morgan Stanley, ”, Bernie Ahkong, Morgan Stanley's Secker, Thomas McGarrity, Lucy Raitano, Susan Fenton Organizations: Barclays, Energy, Reuters Graphics, O’Connor, Alpha, UBS Asset Management, Data, RBC Wealth Management, Thomson Locations: Europe, Amundi

Exchange operators' shares have outperformed in the past few weeks, with traders and analysts pointing to signs of investors rotating into exchanges, partly at the expense of banks. "Exchange operators are data and technology businesses with defensive utility-like features, while banks are highly cyclical and exposed to idiosyncratic business model risks". Average daily value traded at the London Stock Exchange (LSEG) (LSEG.L) rose 12.9% month-over-month in March. "Investors tend to look at the exchanges as defensive names. "We continue to like exchange stocks."

A broad measure of European shares, the STOXX 600 index (.STOXX), is trading at 14-month highs, taking this year's gains to almost 10%. James Rutland, a European equities fund manager at Invesco, noted that consistent outflows from European shares last year, when the energy crisis dealt the region a fresh blow, had left valuations at very cheap levels. A broad index of European stocks is trading at a multiple of 12.6, compared with a ratio of 18.1 for the S&P 500, according to Refinitiv data. This 5.5 point premium is above the five-year average of around 4 points, suggesting European shares look cheap compared to their U.S. counterparts. "This has broken European stocks out of their relative downward trend, so we don't think Europe is now a structural underperformer," he said.

☆ Is it time to return to tech stocks? Here's what Citi, BlackRock and other pros are saying
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Weizhen Tan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

It's been a brutal year for tech, as markets flee growth stocks in the face of rising interest rates and other headwinds. With inflation figures rising less than expected , however, Big Tech stocks rallied last week on investor hopes that a peak is in sight. BlackRock BlackRock said that 2023 "could well be the year to upend almost three years of growth and tech stocks moving in virtual unison." Because of economic headwinds this year, BlackRock said, relative valuations may now appear more attractive than in recent years, with growth and tech stocks currently undervalued. Others Louis Navellier, chief investment officer at asset manager Navellier & Associates, told CNBC Pro in early November there will be "persistent selling pressure" in tech, since many Big Tech stocks are faltering.

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