Global investors have become slightly more pessimistic about the markets in February, though American investors are a tad more confident than they were last month, according to the State Street Investor Confidence Index (ICI) for February.
The Global Investor Confidence Index, from State Street Global Exchange, dropped to 106.5, down 2.2 points from January's revised reading of 108.7. Driving this decline in sentiment was a sharp fall in Europe, where the index dropped to 90.2 from 103.4. In contrast, the Asian ICI rose by 9.2 points to 111.9, and the North American ICI improved from 108.9 to 109.3.
"February was an interesting month that saw swings in investor sentiment fueled by high volatility in oil prices as well as dovish signs from central banks in Europe and Japan," said Kenneth Froot of State Street Associates, a co-developer of the ICI, which tracks institutional investors worldwide.
"Moving forward, all eyes will be focused on the European Central Bank and the Federal Reserve's March meetings as the global growth outlook remains a key concern for investors," Froot explained in a statement.
In January, the Global ICI fell to 108.8, down 1.7 points from December's revised reading of 110.5. The North American ICI weakened to 108.8 from 110.5, while the Asian ICI fell 1.5 points to 102.9; the European ICI declined just 0.1 points to 103.4 last month.
