It has been a rough ride this year for many of 2017’s winning trades. But one region is weathering the market storm relatively well: Southern Europe. If the events of 2018 haven’t dented the global growth outlook too much, then that could persist.
With many markets struggling to make headway, the gains in Southern Europe look good. Despite a political stalemate, Italian stocks are up 7% this year on the MSCI index in local-currency terms and 10% in dollar terms, given the slight strengthening in the euro. Portuguese and Greek...