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According to Franz Wenzel, deputy director for investment strategy at Axa Investment Managers, said that the European markets were underperforming as a result of the global economic slowdown, reports the Age.
He commented: "The US has been at the epicentre of the problems, but the shockwaves are more felt here in the euro zone. Cheap valuations are a direct result."
Of the world's ten biggest markets by capitalisation, the least expensive indexes are currently the UK's FTSE 100 Index, France's CAC 40 and Germany's DAX. All have price-earnings ratios of between 12.1 and 13.5, the newspaper reports.
Meanwhile, Europe's Down Jones Stoxx 600 Index has fallen 13 per cent this year and is valued at 12.7 times earnings - 45 per cent less than S&P 500's ration of 23.
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