Confronting Europe's elephant in the room

It has been a strong showing for European equities in recent weeks, with the European Central Bank (ECB)'s policy action – and the rate cut in the US – all helping to lift shares higher.

However, if one looks under the hood, European economic output is the big elephant in the room for the region now. Brexit Blog: Johnson pledges to end Brexit paralysis at CBI conference What should be chief among investors' concerns? We have a very weak manufacturing industry in Europe, with German manufacturing now in one of the deeper recessions seen over the last 25 years. On top of that is, of course, Brexit. And while the European Commission remains positive on the outlook for growth and jobs broadly, earlier this month it conceded the external environment has become "much les...