While 46 per cent of investors were confident that the FTSE will rally this year, 30 per cent said they were undecided on its prospects and 24 per cent were not confident.

Looking at specific sectors, 21 per cent of those surveyed said that oil and gas offer the best investment prospects for 2012. The second spot went to the financials sector, with 18 per cent of the votes, and the mining sector came in third, having been picked by 15 per cent of those polled. Trailing behind were utilities (8 per cent), energy (7 per cent), information technology (7 per cent), healthcare (6 per cent), telecoms (5 per cent), insurance (4 per cent), materials (4 per cent), consumer goods (3 per cent), communications (1 per cent) and media (1 per cent).

“It is great to see our self-directed investors have a positive outlook for the sectors that will deliver for their portfolios this year, and are optimistic about the performance of the FTSE 100.  With returns on cash consistently low it is encouraging to see investors confidently seeking out the right investment opportunities for them, and capitalising on market volatility where possible,” said Paul Inkster, co-head of product at Barclays Stockbrokers.