We bring you the results of our last three quarterly surveys on respondents’ forecasts for the economic situation over the coming three months.

While China still remains the most positive of all markets surveyed, the index here has declined over the last three quarters, and Hong Kong also dropped sharply. The steepest drop from last quarter to this in China occurred in respondents’ attitudes towards the stock market. In April, 58% of Chinese respondents predicted the stock market in their country would rise over the next three months, while only 34% predicted improvement this quarter. In China, the highest trade surplus since January 2009, recorded this July, and the subsequent political and economic pressure on Beijing to raise the value of the Yuan against the dollar, may have influenced respondents’ dour predictions about the Shanghai Stock Exchange and other Chinese markets. Hong Kong, a center of financial activity, also turned gloomier.