Global investors are less confident than they were a month ago.
State Street’s global Investor Confidence Index (ICI) fell to 91.3 in November, down 4.2 points from October’s revised reading of 95.5.
The decline was the result of a relatively steep fall-off in European sentiment to 101.5 from a revised reading of 111.3 in October.
Sentiment in both North America and Asia improved slightly over the month fuelled by better economic news out of both regions. The North American ICI increased by 3.2 points to 89.4 over the revised October reading of 86.2, and the Asian ICI rose 3.4 points to finish at 98.9 from an October revised reading of 95.5.
“Our readings this month are in direct contrast to those in October,” says Jessica Donohue, head of research and advisory at State Street Global Exchange. “European confidence, which clocked in at its highest level since July 2007 last month, has retrenched to near-neutral territory driven primarily by weaker sentiment for the U.K.”
A reading of 100 is neutral. It’s the level at which investors are neither increasing nor decreasing their long-term allocations to risky assets.
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