London Cedes Position as Most Valuable Stock Market in Europe

The London bourse has surrendered its post as Europe's most-valuable stock market, with France supplanting it. A weak pound and worries of recession in the UK are thought to be some of the factors behind the development.

It is the first time that Paris has had a more valuable stock exchange than London since records began almost 20 years ago. The total value of British shares is now roughly $2.821 trillion, while France's are worth roughly $2.823 trillion. It marks a massive about-turn for the London Stock Exchange, which was worth about $1.4 trillion more than its Paris counterpart in 2016.

Since the advent of the Brexit referendum in 2016, Paris' CAC-40 index has gained 47% while the FTSE 100 in London's has gained just 16%. Analysts point out that the difference cannot be blamed on Brexit alone. It marks another key loss for the UK as last year Amsterdam replaced London as the largest financial trading center in Europe, based on the total value of traded shares.

The French stock exchange has been boosted by a strong bounce back in the shares of luxury brands as customers in this area are unaffected by monetary restrictions in the way ordinary people are. The London Stock Exchange, by comparison. features many banks and financial services firms that are starting to feel the pinch of reduced consumer demand due to tighter monetary policy.