SAN FRANCISCO –- Easing concerns about oil prices and the housing market has fueled investor confidence to the highest level in three years, a survey by UBS AG and Gallup shows.
UBS' index of investor optimism increased 13 points to 103 in January. That's the highest level since January 2004, the company said. The bank also noted that the new record level is only the fifth month since December 2000 that the index has exceeded 100.
More than a third of investors surveyed indicated they expect the Dow Jones Industrial Average to end 2007 higher than its record 2006 close; 15 percent expect it to end the year lower.
The investor optimism is even evident in people's confidence about their own investment portfolios. The so-called Personal Dimension of the UBS survey increased four points to 73 in January — the highest since March 2002.
More than half of those polled said high oil prices are hurting the investment climate a lot, but that was down from 78 percent in August 2006. Two-thirds of investors surveyed said the real estate market is getting worse. Still that figure is down from 70 percent in November and December 2006.
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