Growth & Tech Stocks Lead Gains at Start of Year

Our first markets barometer of the new year shows growth equities remain in favour after outperforming value through 2023

Fernando Luque 5 February, 2024 | 9:40AM
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European stock markets have had a slow start to the year, with the Morningstar Europe Net Return Index up 1.4% in euros in January. But this result hides sharp differences between sectors, factors and styles. 

Starting with factors, the Large Growth segment rose by 4.1% while Large Value declined by 0.6%. There were also differences between large and small companies, with the former gaining a combined 2.1% in January compared to 1.0% for the latter.

European stock factor heat map

Among large cap growth companies, the biggest contributors to January's gains were ASML Holding NV (ASML; +17.1% in euros), Novo Nordisk A/S (NOVO B;+11.0%) and SAP SE (SAP;+15.3%).

On the Large Value side, Deutsche Telekom AG (DTE; +4.6%), Volkswagen AG (VOW; +7.2%) or AXA SA (CS; +5.7%) rose strongly but could not offset losses in some of the companies that weigh more heavily by market capitalization, such as Shell PLC (SHEL; -3.3%), TotalEnergies SE (TTE; -1.2%) or Rio Tinto PLC (RIO; -4.3%).

At the sector level, there were large differences in performance in the first month of the year. The biggest gainer was the technology sector, rising 8.1%. We have already mentioned the strong performance of ASML Holding NV and SAP SE which contributed the most to the sector's performance, though Dassault Systemes SE (DSY), Capgemini SE (CAP) and ASM International NV (ASM) all rose by more than 9% in euro terms.

Another sector that did well in January was healthcare, thanks to Novo Nordisk, which is by far the European company with the largest market capitalization in the sector. Other contributors to the sector's strength were GSK PLC (GSK), up 9.8% in euros, Novartis (NOVN), up 5.1% and Sanofi (SAN), up 4%.

Among the sectors that suffered losses in January were utilities, led lower by RWE AG (RWE) and EDP Renovaveis (EDPR), which dropped by 16.6% and 18.8% respectively. Basic materials were also weak, with a decline of 3.4%. Glencore PLC (GLEN) fell by 9.5% in euros and BASF (BAS) by 8.9%.

European stock performance by sector

Regarding valuations, the trend remains the same: value is more attractive than growth and large companies are more expensive than smaller companies.

European stock valuations by sector & factor

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The information contained within is for educational and informational purposes ONLY. It is not intended nor should it be considered an invitation or inducement to buy or sell a security or securities noted within nor should it be viewed as a communication intended to persuade or incite you to buy or sell security or securities noted within. Any commentary provided is the opinion of the author and should not be considered a personalised recommendation. The information contained within should not be a person's sole basis for making an investment decision. Please contact your financial professional before making an investment decision.

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Securities Mentioned in Article

Security NamePriceChange (%)Morningstar
Rating
ASM International NV529.00 EUR-1.42Rating
ASML Holding NV678.50 EUR-1.70Rating
AXA SA41.71 EUR-0.93Rating
Basf SE42.62 EUR-0.98Rating
Capgemini SE151.70 EUR-1.20Rating
Dassault Systemes SE31.88 EUR-0.34Rating
Deutsche Telekom AG31.80 EUR-1.49Rating
EDP Renovaveis SA9.73 EUR1.25Rating
Glencore PLC284.98 GBX-1.39Rating
GSK PLC1,534.00 GBX0.72Rating
Novartis AG Registered Shares97.26 CHF0.27Rating
Novo Nordisk A/S Class B519.10 DKK0.46Rating
Rio Tinto PLC Registered Shares4,286.00 GBX-1.49Rating
RWE AG Class A34.55 EUR-0.37Rating
Sanofi SA86.37 EUR-0.39Rating
SAP SE261.45 EUR-0.65Rating
Shell PLC2,598.50 GBX0.66Rating
TotalEnergies SE54.52 EUR1.81Rating
Volkswagen AG91.90 EUR-1.39Rating

About Author

Fernando Luque

Fernando Luque  is Senior Financial Editor at Morningstar Spain 

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