US cedes top spot to Brazil-China-India as investment destination: poll

The United States now lags emerging markets in Brazil, China and India as a preferred place for investment, a Bloomberg quarterly Global Poll reports. It had ranked first only three months ago in the last such quarterly poll.

In the 16-17 September poll of 1,408 investors, analysts and traders who are Bloomberg subscribers, respondents made evident their negative perception of the US economy rating it fourth for potential returns over the next year, behind Brazil and China, tied for first, and India in the third place.

The world's largest economy, however, still ranked highest of all major developed countries.

The poll respondents also said the Federal Reserve was likely to take further steps to try to bolster the economy.

The slide in sentiment comes even as US GDP growth slowed to 1.6 per cent in the second quarter from 3.7 per cent in the first quarter.  Expectations for US GDP growth next year are down to a median forecast of 2.5 per cent in September, from 2.9 per cent in June, according to Bloomberg's monthly survey of economists.

The poll also shows that perceptions about the dollar have changed significantly since the June survey, when 63 per cent of the respondents believed the US currency would rise against the euro during the following three months. Sentiment is about evenly split with 34 per cent now expecting a stronger dollar in three months; 32 per cent expecting little change and 30 per cent a weaker dollar.