GCC investor confidence falls further

Investor confidence in the Gulf region fell for the third consecutive month in January, according to a report by financial services company Shuaa Capital. The company’s GCC Investor Confidence Index for January dropped by 2.4 points to 114.5, led by the negative sentiment towards the UAE, it said.

“December’s special investor sentiment report reflected the impact of the decision to repay the Nakheel Sukuk on time, resulting in a jump in the Index,” Oliver Schutzmann, chief communications officer of Shuaa Capital and author of the report wrote in the release. “However, the UAE Index has subsequently lost 12.8 points to 96.1 as investors have become increasingly uncertain towards the economic outlook on the UAE economy,” he said.

But the future prospects were better, according to Schutzmann, who said that all the industry sectors in the GCC, apart from real estate, were expected to see profits increasing over the next six months.