After two months of decline, adviser confidence in the economy and the stock market rebounded significantly in August, according to Rydex AdvisorBenchmarking.
The Advisor Confidence Index, which gauges advisers' views on the U.S. economy and stock market, increased 13% in August, to 97.06, from a month earlier.
Advisers are "starting to see some light peeking through the storm clouds," said Bill Ramsay, an analyst with Financial Symmetry Inc. in Raleigh.
Each of the four economic elements used to calculate the index rose in August, according to the index that was released Tuesday. The biggest increase, 19.15%, was in advisers' optimism about the 12-month economic outlook.
The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index, which has declined since last summer, held steady in July. The Consumer Confidence Index was 51.9, up 3%, compared with an 11% decrease for the adviser index from June to July.
Rydex AdvisorBenchmarking is a research and analysis unit of Rydex Investments of Rockville, Md.
