Investor expectations in Europe jumped to the highest level in more than seven years on the hope of further economic recovery in 2014.
European investor expectations rose to 23.3 points in December, an increase of half a point from November and the highest level recorded since April 2006, according to the index compiled by market research group Sentix.
At the same time, however, investors’ assessment of the current economic situation dropped 1.3 points to eight.
‘Investors began the year of 2013 with high expectations and they leave it with even higher ones,’ Sentix says in its monthly index report. ‘A look at the details of the data set also shows that the positive development in expectations probably has yet to come to an end.’
It adds: ‘Individual investors are still clearly more skeptical than institutional. Usually, they follow the assessments of investment professionals with a time lag.’
Investor expectations as measured by the Sentix index have risen steadily throughout 2013 after starting the year at 12 points. The assessment of the current economic situation on the continent, although posting a drop in December, is still up sharply from minus 24.3 points at the start of the year.
On the Sentix scale, numbers above zero indicate positive sentiment, while minus numbers show negative sentiment.
Globally, investor expectations rose 4.3 points to 20.8 in December, an increase from 11 points a year ago. The assessment of the current global economic situation rose to 17 points in December from 14.3 in November and 5.9 points at the end of last year.
