Investors Continue To Regain Confidence

Global institutional investors continued to regain confidence and further increased their holdings of equities in March, according to State Street, whose Investor Confidence Index based on actual portfolio holdings of their institutional clients rose to 111.9, up 4.8 points from February's downward revised reading of 107.1. The increase in global appetite for equities was broad-based and included all three of the main regions. As in February, confidence was led by the North American component, which rose 5.8 points to 109.8. The Asian component increased 1.3 points to 109.6, and the European sub-index also managed a gain after February's plunge, rising 1.6 points to 102.1. State Street noted that risk appetite increased as the volatility of February subsided, though protectionist rhetoric and fears of trade wars are still festering and have the potential to reduce that appetite.