Investors have once again shied away from equities, after a pick-up in equity buying in June turned negative in July, according to State Street's Investor Confidence Index (ICI).
Paul O'Connell of State Street Associates said institutional investors were driven by caution in July.
"The pick-up in equity buying that we noted last month proved short-lived, and flows had turned negative by the end of our July sample," he said.
Globally, investor confidence rose by 0.7 points from June's revised reading of 93.3 to reach 94.
North American and European investor confidence declined 0.6 and 0.5 points respectively, although Europe remained the least cautious region for investors with an ICI of 101.7.
Asia's ICI rose 0.8 points, driving the overall increase, but the region was the most bearish at nine points below neutral, according to O'Connell.
"Underlying this is a lack of enthusiasm for emerging markets and US equities in a world where economic growth is challenged. However, we did observe a modest up-tick in purchasing of European equities this month, alongside some buying of stocks with commodities exposure," he said.
