Europe Banks Falter as ECB Defers Asset Buying

European bank valuations show investors’ are skeptical about the industry.

Lenders in the Stoxx Europe 600 Index are trading near their lowest valuation in a year versus banks in developed economies worldwide, as the CHART OF THE DAY highlights. After reaching a seven-month high in January, the European group’s price-to-earnings ratio lost 5 percent to 47.55, compared with a 2 percent increase for lenders in the MSCI World Index.