Lloyds surveyed 4,637 UK adults, of which 1,189 were investors.

UK-based investors have shied away from US equities this month, new data from Lloyds Private Bank shows, at a time when the Trump administration appears to be ripping at the seams. 

US equities did not fare well in August, as investor sentiment towards the market tumbled from 0.85 per cent to -2.54 per cent, according to Lloyds Private Bank’s Investor Sentiment Index, which tracks investors’ preferences on a monthly basis. 

The decline comes at a time of tumult in the White House, as Trump’s unravelling administration has seen four of its senior staff ousted or resign less than a year into his tenure as president. 

US equities also saw the biggest reduction in sentiment year-on-year, Lloyds said, down 13.06 per cent. 

Gold continued to hold the limelight as it outperformed all other asset classes. The precious metal attracted the highest sentiment level at 40.94 per cent – over the “extreme” threshold, Lloyds said. 

Meanwhile, investors this month were bullish on emerging markets. Sentiment reached 21.05 per cent in August, swelling 5.1 per cent from last month and a 5.13 per cent rise YOY.

Investors turned their back on cash amid a low interest rate environment, as sentiment towards currency holdings logged the lowest score of -30.39 per cent. 

The asset classes that improved the most were commodities (up 4.6 per cent); Eurozone equities (up 3.9 per cent); and emerging market equities (up 3.3 per cent).