Just in excess of a quarter of investors cited the euro crisis as their top fear increasing from 9 per cent in January, data from a barometer of investor sentiment from Dianomi has shown. From a panel of more than 1,750 UK investors, 26 per cent cited the euro crisis as their top current fear. Inflation has dropped from being the number one fear in January to the number three fear after recession. Fear of unemployment has also dropped from 15 per cent to 9 per cent of 1,750 investors. The research also investigated which asset classes and sectors are proving most attractive to UK investors in the current climate. It found that investors are increasingly buying gold and silver while selling gilts and corporate bonds whereas there is less demand for equities, especially growth stocks, property and alternative investments. For the first time, as many investors reported snapping up gold and silver as buying equity income products. The survey also found that investment demand for all sectors has fallen except pharmaceuticals and utilities, which have increased. In addition, investors appeared very negative on the euro with 48 per cent describing it as a sell. They also appeared negative on the US dollar while very positive on the Swiss franc, Australian dollar and Canadian dollar. Cabell de Marcellus, co-founder of Dianomi, said: "As the euro crisis deepens, UK investors appear to be shifting away from the euro and moving to defensive options like gold, silver and the Swiss franc. "They also appear to be buying pharmaceuticals and utilities and selling European equities, retail, North America, financials and other sectors."

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