Investor confidence in UK shares falls and “nervousness” is likely to grow around Brexit
Investor confidence in UK equities fell in November and “nervousness” is likely to grow as Brexit uncertainty continues, according to a Lloyds study.
The bank’s Investor Sentiment Index for November found sentiment to UK shares was 11.3 per cent, down 4.5 percentage points on October and 14.9 on November last year.
Sentiment towards UK property also fell significantly: down 6.6 percentage points on October and 28.7 percentage points year-on-year to 23.9 per cent.
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Confidence in UK government bonds (minus 6.8 per cent) and UK corporate bonds (minus six per cent) also fell.
US shares, gold, commodities and cash sentiment was also down, while confidence in Eurozone, Japanese and emerging markets shares improved between October and November.
“The UK is more likely to be influenced by Bank of England decisions and EU exit consideration than the recent US election,” said Lloyds Private Banking chief investment officer Markus Stadlmann.
“The UK government finds itself in a challenging position ahead of formal EU exit negotiations, further compounded by the recent decision that it must now consult MPs before it triggers Article 50.
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“We anticipate seeing growing investor nervousness towards the UK as the situation around Brexit continues to evolve.”
He added: “Despite a small uplift in sentiment towards European equities this month, we do not believe this marks the beginning of a large scale turnaround in investor sentiment towards the asset class, which has been consistently negative for a long period now.”