Just as the environment for the UK investor appeared to be improving, there came a setback in June. Our IC/Confidence Index, which is based on pure facts rather than relying on sentiment, had been steadily rising over the last few months and looked to be set fair for this summer.
Global stock markets were rocked by news from the US and China in June which caused a downturn in the indices. This unwelcome news caused all of the factors within our stock market category to take a tumble. On top of this, the factor for house prices fell yet again, and oil prices and the retail price index rose and added to the overall malaise.
It wasn't all doom and gloom in June, though, because there were a few glimmers of hope around. The number of people unemployed in the UK fell again, wages rose and of course the sun shone.
The FTSE 100 Index did bounce back and continued to rise backed by optimism concerning forthcoming growth in equities' earnings. The 12-month moving average for the IC/Confidence Index is bottoming out and is displaying encouraging signs of improvement. So don't write off the summer just yet.
Confidence down but not out
