UK investors are feeling bullish again this month

British investor confidence rose for the second month in a row during November, while sentiment surrounding UK shares recovered.

Confidence rose 0.5 per cent to 4.8 per cent, according to Lloyds Private Bank's regular investor sentiment index. This uplift marks the first back-to-back monthly increase in over a year.

On a long-term basis, confidence levels have more than doubled in a year, rising to 4.8 per cent from 2.2 per cent.

Confidence in UK asset classes also bounced back, following a weak October. Investor confidence rose 3.9 per cent to 4.5 per cent, recovering from a two-month dip.

Investors were most bullish on Japanese shares this month, with a 5.2 per cent improvement in performance prompting a rise of 8.3 per cent in confidence to 12.5 per cent. This marks the highest level of confidence in nearly four years.

Markus Stadlmann, chief investment officer at Lloyds Private Bank, commented: “It’s no surprise to see Japanese equities attracting positive attention, although our team has slightly cooled on them recently as we believe future performance may be weaker than we initially thought. That said, we still expect Japanese equities to outperform other stock markets in the near future.”

The surge in confidence was mirrored by a decrease in the performance in the value of gold, which fell one per cent. Investors felt less need to stick to the safety of gold, and sentiment dropped 6.6 per cent to 37.8 per cent.

Eurozone shares experienced a dip in popularity, despite a steady uptick in performance. But the shares remain the best performers of the last 12 months, up 29.6 per cent overall. Stadlmann added that “we remain a fan and expect strong regional profit growth to continue leading to higher share prices”.

Meanwhile assets such as UK property (down 1.9 per cent), UK corporate bonds (down 1.6 per cent) and UK government bonds (down 0.9 per cent), all continued a trend of negative performance.

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