Institutional investors are more confident this month, according to the State Street Investor Confidence Index (ICI).
The global ICI rose 1.8 points to 94.8 in May, up from April’s revised reading of 93.0.
The primary driver behind the gain was a shift in risk appetite among European institutions, with the European ICI rising 5.6 points to 93.3 from the revised April reading of 87.7. Confidence also rose slightly among Asian institutions, with the Asian ICI increasing to 86.0 from 85.2 in April.
However, confidence among North American investors fell slightly as the ICI declined by 2.2 points to 102.5.
“At a regional level, the uptick in the European ICI is a welcome development, as it represents a positive change of almost one standard deviation,” says State Street Associates director Paul O’Connell.
The index measures investor confidence on a quantitative basis, analyzing actual buying and selling patterns of institutional investors. The greater the percentage allocated to equities, the greater their confidence.
Read more: