Equipment and leasing industry confidence rose in August, according to ‘Monthly Confidence Index for the Equipment Finance Industry’ (MCI-EFI).

The index rose to 54.8 in August after remaining static the previous two months, with a June index of 52.5 and July reaching only 52.3.

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Adam D. Warner, president, Key Equipment Finance, said: “There seems to be a general slowdown in capital asset acquisitions. There is enough negative overhang and fallout from the U.S. presidential campaign combined with continued concerns about Europe and China that have businesses unsure about investments in growth.”

As found in July, the overwhelming majority of responders, 80%, expected market conditions to stay the same over the next four months, up from 75.8% in July.

The number of respondents who believed that demand for leases and loans to fund capital expenditure (capex) would increase over the next four months increased to 13.3% in August from 12.1% the previous month.

Hiring expectations also increased, with 40% of the executives surveyed reporting that they expected to hire more employees over the next four months.

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Assessments of the state of the American economy were lower than in July, with 10% evaluating the US economy as ‘poor’, compared to none in July. Those assessing the US economy as ‘fair’ fell by 10%.

In August, 40% of those surveyed expected their company to increase spending on business development activities during the next six months, an increase from 36.4% in July.

William H. Besgen, senior advisor, vice chairman emeritus, Hitachi Capital America, said: “While the employment numbers look positive, the recent GDP number seems anaemic.

“Growth in new business volumes has softened and there is a slight uptick in delinquencies, despite aggressive collections efforts. The outlook is unclear.”