The North American investor confidence index plummeted well into “pessimistic territory” in October, according to State Street Global Exchange's latest Investor Confidence index.
North American confidence dropped 17.8 points in the month to 86.5, causing the overall global investor confidence index to fall to 95.7 from 101.3.
Meanwhile, European investor confidence saw substantial improvement, increasing to 111.9 from 101.7 in September. Asian confidence was relatively flat, increasing 0.9 points to 96.2. It is the second consecutive month that both North American confidence decreased and European and Asian confidence increased.
A reading of 100 is neutral — investors are neither increasing nor decreasing long-term allocations to risky assets. The index is based on actual trades. It was the first time since May that the global confidence index fell below a neutral rating.
“The fact that the North American ICI posted a record fall in the same month that the European ICI posted its largest gain in almost three years tells you all you need to know about how policy perceptions are changing between the two areas,” said Michael Metcalfe, senior managing director and head of cross strategy research at State Street Global Markets, in a news release.
