Singapore's investor sentiment index up by 2pts

Thanks to strong stocks.

According to the Manulife Financial, the overall Manulife Investor Sentiment Index in Singapore rose by 2 points since March 2013 (+10 to +12). The increase was driven by sentiment towards stocks and mutual funds which went up by index points of 13 (+8 to +21) and 12 (-2 to +10) respectively.

The overall Manulife ISI in Asia rose by 4 points over the same period, with the biggest gains in Japan, Indonesia and Taiwan. Canada and the US also rose 4 points and 2 pointsrespectively.

Singapore investors’ sentiments on stocks, equities and mutual funds have improved over the last 3 months as “signals hinted that the market condition is getting better” (47 per cent) and fewer Singapore investors are seeing “higher returns than other investments at this particular time” (33 per cent).

There is no clear relationship between the increase in sentiments on stock/ equities or mutual funds/ unit trusts and Singapore investors’ decisions on these asset classes in the next 12 months.