War in the Middle East: many concerns, little action
Only a small share of investors has taken action because of the war in the Middle East. For example, 15% bought additional investments in the past month. About one in seven investors spends less and saves more. At the same time, the behaviour of most investors remains the same. Although 59% are concerned about the impact of the war on their investments, 68% have not taken any action. More than half have also not changed their spending pattern. Investors are divided about how long the negative impact of the conflict on the stock market will last. One third expect a period of three to six months, while a similar group expects six months to more than a year.
Investors take risks into account, but try not to let the news fully determine their financial choices.
Bob Homan – Head of Investment Office
"}},{"componentType":"sectionTitle","title":"Opinion"},{"componentType":"paragraph","richBody":{"value":"ASML stays on top, Shell remains popular
ASML has for some time been the AEX company that investors see as offering the most opportunities for the next three months. Since last month, Shell has also gained ground, mainly due to higher oil prices. As in March, 13% of investors see Shell as the share with the best outlook.
| Most popular companies in AEX-index | |
|---|---|
| 1. ASML | 21% |
| 2. Shell | 13% |
| 3. ASMI | 5% |
| 4. Ahold | 3% |
| 5. ING | 3% |
Opportunities shift towards defence and energy
Geopolitical tensions also affect where investors see opportunities. Because of the war in the Middle East, they mainly expect returns in the defence sector. More than half of investors mention this sector as promising. Energy and precious metals follow after that. This preference matches the greater focus on security, energy supply and raw materials. Investors mainly look at the Netherlands and Europe. The United States is mentioned less often than earlier this year.
Higher energy prices partly lead to adjusted behaviour
Some investors adjust their behaviour because of higher energy prices. A quarter drive less and almost one in five turn the heating down. At the same time, the behaviour of most investors does not change. More than half leave their daily energy use unchanged.
Since November 2002, ING has been measuring investor confidence among Dutch private investors with the Investor Barometer. This tool, developed by ING, uses nine questions to determine the index for investor confidence. The index runs from 0 ('very pessimistic'), through 100 ('neutral'), up to a maximum of 200 ('very optimistic'). The research is carried out by research agency Blauw Research, which conducts monthly surveys with a representative sample of over 400 Dutch private investors. Different investors are surveyed each month to prevent panel effects.
"},"title":"The ING Investor Barometer"},{"componentType":"sectionTitle","title":"Good to know"},{"componentType":"paragraph","richBody":{"value":"Investing involves risks and costs. You may lose your investment or part of it.
This publication has been prepared on behalf of ING Bank N.V. and is intended for information purposes only. ING Bank N.V. obtains its information from sources considered reliable and has taken all possible care to ensure that, at the time of publication, the information on which its views in this publication are based is not incorrect or misleading. ING Bank N.V. does not guarantee that the information it uses is accurate or complete. The information in this publication may be changed without any form of notice. Copyright and data file protection rights apply to this publication. Reproduction of data from this publication is permitted, provided the source is mentioned. ING Bank N.V. is legally registered in Amsterdam, trade register no. 33031431, and is supervised by De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) and the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM). ING Bank N.V. is part of ING Groep N.V.
"}}]},"hasMacro":false,"id":"5c2a3903-900a-4e13-8002-4f8c44369605","localeString":"en-GB","mainHeaderZone":{"backLink":{"textLink":{"text":"Market news and views","url":"/en/personal/investing/market-news-and-views"}},"componentType":"productHeader","coreHeader":{"body":"29 April 2026 – The war in the Middle East is causing a lot of concern among investors. Because of this, investor confidence has decreased further this month and now stands at 71 points. However, the low level is leading to hardly any action. Most investors have not adjusted their portfolio or their spending pattern.","headerImage":{"extension":"png","original":"https://assets.ing.com/asset/f21e5ead-d3e1-45ac-8396-d23eeeaf647a/ING_BeleggersBarometer_april26_EN.png","transformBaseUrl":"https://assets.ing.com/transform/f21e5ead-d3e1-45ac-8396-d23eeeaf647a/ING_BeleggersBarometer_april26_EN","type":"image","width":1075},"title":"Investors keep calm despite concerns about Middle East war"}},"publishDate":"2026-04-29T16:37:56.681+02:00"}}