Investor confidence unmoved despite credit crunch

Confidence improved markedly amongst North American institutional investors, whose index rose 21 points to 116.5. In contrast, confidence amongst European investors declined, with their index edging down four points to 86.4. The Asian investors’ confidence index edged up by just 0.6 points, to 84.1. The index measures investor confidence through analysis of the actual buying and selling patterns of institutional investors. It is based on financial theory that assigns precise meaning to changes in investor risk appetite, or their willingness to allocate their portfolios to equ...