Sluggish Europe dampens global confidence

European investors continue to lose confidence and risk appetite, putting a dampener on global investor confidence, State Street reports.

The European Investor Confidence Index (ICI) plummeted 8.2 points to 105.9 from January's revised index of 114.1.

This dragged down the global ICI by 1.4 points to 105.2, down from January's 106.6.

"The confidence of European managers fell once again in February to its lowest level since last April," State Street Global Markets senior vice president Michael Metcalfe said.

VIEW ALL

View all

"This suggests either that investors are not as complacent about events in Greece as some bond spreads suggest or that the promise of QE in Europe has proved more alluring than its reality. Neither interpretation is particularly good news."

But the North American ICI rose by 3.1 points to 104.3 on the back of better labour market conditions in the US.

But index developed Kenneth Froot said lack of inflationary pressure in the US may mean markets may delay their first interest rate rise expectation to later than the previously expected June date, which could boost sentiment.