Investors shun US stocks on trade war concerns

Biggest monthly fall in sentiment since 2013

Investors remain concerned about global equities on fears of a trade war between the US and China, with sentiment towards US stocks suffering its biggest monthly fall in April since 2013, the latest Investor Sentiment Index for Lloyds Bank Private Banking shows.

In the latest survey findings, sentiment towards US equities was hit the most, falling by 12.2 percentage points to -2.3%. This came as markets fell following the widening of proposed US tariffs to include over 1,000 Chinese products. In response, China said it will retaliate with tariffs on US products. But sentiment towards emerging markets for the month was positive at 20.2%, although this was 1.1 percentage points lower than the previous month. This remained the highest among global equities and notably avoided the big fall sustained by sentiment on US equities. US markets enjoy b...