Eurozone investor sentiment eroded in February, after rising in the previous three months, as investor grew concerned about the economic outlook amid the uncertainty created by the coronavirus outbreak in China, results of a closely watched survey showed on Monday.
The investor confidence index dropped to 5.2 from 7.6 in December, the behavioral research institute Sentix said.
The current situation index of the survey fell to 4.0 from 5.5 and the expectations measure eased to 6.5 from 9.8.
The latest Sentix survey was conducted between February 6 and 8 among 1086 investors.
The investor sentiment index for Germany, an economy that is heavily dependent on trade, fell only 2.1 points.
However, the index for Asia ex Japan dropped significantly by 11.3 points.
Meanwhile, the strength of the US economy continues to underpin global sentiment, the think tank said.
The novel Coronavirus outbreak that started in the Chinese city of Wuhan has claimed over 900 lives in the country and has infected more than 40,000 people. Other countries have also reported cases of infections and at least one death outside China took place in the Philippines last week.
Many countries have imposed restrictions on their citizens on travel to China.
"While at the beginning of the year there was still a clear upswing scenario for the global economy, the outbreak of the corona virus in China has changed the situation significantly," Sentix said.
"So far, however, the effects on the economy have been relatively limited from the point of view of the investors surveyed by sentix, even if they are significant for China," the group added.
"There is still hope for a continuation of the economic recovery," Sentix said.
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