US boosts global investor confidence
Institutional investor confidence has continued to climb this month by 8.7 points to reach 123, State Street’s Investor Confidence Index (ICI) for February 2014 has shown.
The confidence boost was spurred by North America, with its ICI rising 12.3 points to 125.5, up from January’s revised level of 113.2.
Investors in Asia also showed increased confidence, with the Asian ICI rising 3.3 points to 106.6 from the January reading of 103.3.
Offsetting this was the lukewarm risk sentiment in Europe, with its ICI dropping slightly from January’s revised 112.8 to 110.6.
“Our data does reveal regional weakness, notably in lack-lustre demand for European ex-UK equities, but overall suggests that institutions are adhering to their strategic plans, albeit with a slight defensive tilt to their sector allocation,” State Street Associates director Paul O’Connell said.
“So far this year we have seen institutions make meaningful additions to their equity holdings and this trend has remained intact despite questions about credit tightening in China, the pace of growth in the US and policy upheaval in Turkey, Argentina, Thailand and the Ukraine.”
Senior vice president Michael Metcalfe said while weaker US economic data and shaky emerging markets brought about a “dramatic correction” in global markets late January and early February, longer-term investors remained calm.
“Instead, they used the sell-off in risk assets as a buying opportunity and measured investor sentiment rose in all regions bar Europe.”
The ICI measures investor confidence or risk appetite quantitatively by analysing actual buying and selling patterns of institutional investors.
Recommended for you
In this episode of Relative Return, host Laura Dew chats with David Russell, chair of the Transition Pathway Initiative, and Tony Campos, head of sustainable investment at FTSE Russell, about the intricacies of climate investment.
In this episode of Relative Return Unplugged, hosts Maja Garaca Djurdjevic and Keith Ford, along with special guest Steve Kuper, discuss a whirlwind start to US President Donald Trump’s second term that all but kicked off a trade war.
The emergence of DeepSeek, a Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) start-up that claims to have built an advanced large language model in just two months for under US$6 million, sent shockwaves through the AI world and cratered US tech stocks.
Donald Trump’s presidency has already begun reshaping the corporate and political landscape in the US, with executive orders rolling back diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and clean energy efforts.
