The latest measure of sentiment from State Street Global Markets shows a decline in November
Even before the latest concern over the risk of a newly-discovered COVID variant, investors in North America were feeling a little less confident in the equity markets.
The Global Investor Confidence Index from State Street Global Markets slipped 3.6 points to a reading of 110.5 in November. But the breakout for North American investors shows a decline of more than 5 points to 108.7.
By comparison, the index for Asia was up 4.8 points to 108.1 and for Europe it ticked down 1.4 points to 95.3.
The index measures investor confidence or risk appetite quantitatively by analyzing the actual buying and selling patterns of institutional investors. A higher percentage allocation to equities equates to greater risk appetite or confidence.
“Investor sentiment remained near its 3-year high in November, although the Global ICI has eased off the strong levels recorded last month,” commented Marvin Loh, global macro strategist, State Street Global Markets. “The overall positive tone in risk assets pushed global equity bourses to multi-year highs, led by North America, with U.S. equity investors looking past the start of Fed tapering, higher inflation readings and more aggressive rate hike expectations.”
Among the ongoing concerns for investors is rising inflation with most central banks taking a wait-and-see approach to price rises, and cautious about hiking interest rates while economies remain in recovery mode from the pandemic.
