Omv Ag

Tagged as hot spot for investment in 2017, European equities are now heading toward their best performance in years, but the ride hasn’t been without a couple of unexpected developments — and insights — that cropped up along the way for money managers. After broadly striking a bullish tone heading into 2017, major banks were rounding off the year by exceeding their respective targets on broad European stock indexes. J.P. Morgan, for example, projected the MSCI Europe Index would end at 1,500.

European stocks were in the red Friday, putting the regional benchmark on track for a weekly decline, with oil and gas shares pulled lower on disappointment stemming from OPEC’s agreement to extend production cuts. The Stoxx Europe 600 SXXP, -0.45% fell 0.5% to 390.16, with energy and financial shares faring the worst. But health care, telecom and consumer services shares held to small gains.