European markets opened confidently today as better-than-expected manufacturing data from China provided an excuse for investors to dive back into the equity markets in full throttle. Although some analysts have pointed out that they expect a period of consolidation owing to the near all-time highs of equities as well as restrictions in the flow of cash from China, investors nevertheless still think that there are bargains out there and have adopted a buying mentality today.
And yet, perhaps this is not necessarily a solely headline driven market some may assume the rally has arisen from. If one considers that the debt issues in the US have been provided with a temporary resolution, the Eurozone economic area is slowly recovering and even manufacturing data from China rose to a seven-month high in October. Thus, before bears voice their concerns that the rally today has arisen as a result of investors looking for any excuse to hold equities then perhaps one should remember that it’s been long time since investors have actually had a series of sound economic fundamentals to entice such optimism.