Turmoil on the global credit markets has pushed German investor confidence to its lowest level for almost 15 years, although economists cautioned this might be an overreaction to specific problems being felt by the financial services sector.

The ZEW Centre for European Economic Research in Mannheim said its December survey of institutional investors and analysts fell to -37.2 points, lower than the previous month’s count of -32.5and the lowest since January 1993.