Investors' confidence in the stock market fell for the third month in a row during May as pessimism about the economy took its toll, research showed yesterday.
About 22 per cent of people said they thought the value of the FTSE 100 Index was set to fall over the coming months, up from 18 per cent in April, according to JPMorgan Asset Management.
A quarter of people put their lack of confidence down to pessimism over economic conditions, while 18 per cent attributed it to fears of house price falls and a further 18 per cent said it was because they were worried about the high price of oil.
One in five people also said they were expecting further interest rate rises, although the same proportion said they thought the cost of borrowing had now peaked.
Unsurprisingly the demand for equity-based products has also fallen, with 29 per cent of investors saying they currently favour fixed interest products such as bonds and just 22 per cent still liking equities, down from 24 per cent in April.
