Despite the destabilizing effects of the hostilities in the Middle East, economic confidence among global accountants and finance executives rose in the second quarter. Still, the quarterly Economic Confidence Index, established 15 years ago by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and the Institute of Management Accountants, remains in the doldrums after a dismal first quarter. The confidence index reading for the second quarter was -26.5. Most responses to ACCA and ICA's most recent economic confidence survey, conducted from June 3-17 with 647 participants, were received before the announcement of a ceasefire in Iran and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. Among all respondents, the proportion experiencing cost hikes in the quarter was somewhat lower than the CFOs' proportion, at 76%.