Institutional investors are feeling more confident about equity markets in October.

According the State Street Investor Confidence Index for October 2006, investor confidence increased by 1.8, to 82.5 from September’s revised reading of 80.7.

Looking regionally, the confidence of North American institutional investors rose from 92.8 to 94.4. The confidence of Asian investors increased to 94.2 from 90.7 and the confidence of European investors rose strongly from 88.9 to 96.2.

Developed through State Street Global Markets’ research partnership, State Street Associates, by Harvard University professor Ken Froot and State Street Associates Director Paul O’Connell, the index measures investor confidence on a quantitative basis, analyzing actual buying and selling patterns of institutional investors. The index is based on financial theory that assigns precise meaning to changes in investor risk sentiment, or the willingness of investors to hold proportionally more or less of their portfolio in equities. The more of their portfolio that institutional investors are willing to devote to equities, the greater their risk appetite or confidence.

“This month saw a partial resolution of the tension we mentioned last month between news of a slow-down in U.S. property and declining commodity prices,” said Froot. “The tie-breaker was the continued strength in Q3 corporate earnings, which gave investors encouragement with respect to medium-term growth forecasts.”

“Institutional investors continue to show confidence in the consumer sectors, underpinning the belief that growth will not be hobbled by weakness in property markets,” added O’Connell. “This was most evident amongst Asian investors, where confidence rose to an all-time high, but risk appetite among European investors also rose sharply.”

Since its launch in September of 2003, the index has become a key economic indicator for asset owners, investment managers and central banks.