A large drop in European investor sentiment has seen global investor confidence plummet according to the latest results from State Street's Investor Confidence Index (ICI).
The global ICI decreased 5.5 points from December's revised 112.2 to 106.7, with European ICI for January falling furthest, from 5.7 points to 113.9 from December's revised reading of 119.6.
In North America, the ICI fell by 1.1 points to 101.8, while in Asia the ICI also fell by 1.1 points to 99.6.
State Street Associates ICI developer Kenneth Froot attributed global deflationary fears and political instability in Europe for the decline in sentiment, and suggested focus will now move to the US Federal Reserve
"Given soft inflation and retail sales in the US, all eyes will be focused on the Federal Reserve on Wednesday to see if the FOMC stays on track to raise rates in Q2." Froot said.
State Street Global Exchange executive vice president Jessica Donohue said there were possible changes in investor sentiment with involvement from the ECB
"It will be interesting to see whether recent sovereign quantitative easing by the ECB will offset rising political uncertainty in the Eurozone and lead to a stabilisation in sentiment." she concluded.
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