writes:
French stocks have beaten euro-area stocks for six years. Options traders are betting 2014 will be different.
With a budget deficit poised to rise and economic growth running at half the region?s rate, investor sentiment on the CAC 40 Index (CAC) is deteriorating. Options protecting against swings in the equity gauge cost the most since April 2013 relative to the Euro Stoxx 50 Index, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
French stocks slid in the last three months, completing their first quarterly loss in more than two years. International investors are losing patience because policy measures in Europe?s second-largest economy have failed to keep up with those in Spain, Portugal or Ireland, said Yves Maillot, head of European equities for Natixis Asset Management in Paris.
?Being bearish on French stocks is definitely a sentiment story,? Maillot said by phone. ?Reforms have only just begun in France and there is still so much to do.?
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