Macroeconomic sentiment rose for the fourth consecutive quarter in June to a near all-time high, according to the latest Expert Investor investment sentiment survey. Six in 10 European fund buyers have a positive macroeconomic outlook. That’s more than twice the number recorded this time last year. Meanwhile, the number of macroeconomic bears has dropped to a mere 3%.
Emmanuel Macron’s election as France’s new president as well as the broad economic upturn in the eurozone have energised the continent’s fund buyers. In all 14 European countries included in the survey, at least half of respondents are positive about the macroeconomic outlook. Nordic investors are most bullish, with more than three quarters of Norwegian, Danish and Finnish investors sharing a positive macroeconomic outlook.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, macro(n)economic optimism rose fastest in France, where 73% of investors now have a positive outlook.
Uncool Britannia
But there is one place that doesn’t share the European enthusiasm, and that’s the United Kingdom. It is the only country in Europe where most investors are neutral, rather than positive in their outlook.
Macroeconomic views tend to be affected quite strongly by the economic situation in investors’ home countries, and this also looks to be the case here: with the UK economy slowing down, core inflation hovering above the Bank of England’s target and the UK government in disarray over Brexit after losing its parliamentary majority in recent elections, there indeed seems little reason to be optimistic.
