U.K. Megacaps Fare Worst Among Peers Despite Rosy Outlook: Chart

(Bloomberg) -- The FTSE 100 Index is the worst performer among major developed-market gauges in 2018, even as analysts have grown increasingly optimistic about the earnings outlook of British companies. They’ve boosted the benchmark’s profit estimates by about 3 percent this year -- more than the 1.4 percent increase for the Euro Stoxx 50 Index -- to the highest level since 2013. That’s principally thanks to the gauge’s energy and banking members, BNP Paribas SA strategists including Edmund Shing wrote in a note last week, recommending a bullish options trade on the FTSE 100.

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