Boston, Mass. ... State Street Global Markets, the investment research and trading arm of State Street Corporation (NYSE:STT), released today the results of the State Street Investor Confidence Index^SM for November 2004.

According to the November index, investor confidence decreased by 3.9 points from October's upwardly-revised reading of 89.2.

Developed by Harvard University professor Ken Froot and Paul O'Connell of State Street Associates, the research unit of State Street Global Markets, the index shows that the quick U.S. pre-election run-up in confidence at the end of October and early November has subsided, and the index has dropped slightly through the end of the month. The index nevertheless shows a small amount of net buying of risky assets by global investors and remains above its September 2004 level of 84.7, a relatively low level at which the index had approximately hovered since June.

"The willingness of global investors to take on additional risk across their portfolios is now above levels of last summer, when doubts about the sustainability of U.S. and global growth reached their apex," said Froot. "A balanced growth picture is now mixed with renewed concerns about the value of the U.S. dollar and the rate inflation, and underlying them, the U.S. federal budget and current account deficits."

"As we drill down into the regional variances of the index, we see that investors from Europe appear highly concerned by developments in the Euro and U.S. dollar and are overall selling risky assets in relation to their portfolio holdings," said O'Connell. "By contrast, Asian investors are more buoyed by regional growth prospects. They are displaying stronger confidence and systematic buying across their portfolios, more so currently than investors in other regions. Investors in the U.S. are in between, though they continue to add to the risk of their portfolios in a relatively light manner."

Since its launch in September of 2003, the State Street Investor Confidence Index^SM has become a key economic indicator for asset owners, investment managers and central banks. As the only index providing a quantitative measure tracking the common buying patterns of institutional investors around the world, the State Street Investor Confidence Index^SM offers a unique look into the investment behavior and decisions of thousands of professional investors and their investment decisions.

About State Street Associates
Founded in 1999 in Cambridge, Mass., State Street Associates develops portfolio and flow research, currency management, asset allocation services and designs strategy tools to support the needs of global portfolio managers.

About the State Street Investor Confidence Index^SM
The index is released globally at 10 a.m. Eastern time in Boston on the second to last Tuesday of each month. More information on the State Street Investor Confidence Index, and the calendar of release dates, is available at http://www.statestreet.com/investorconfidenceindex. The previous month's calculations for the index are revised to account for trading activity through the end of the reporting period.

About State Street
State Street Corporation (NYSE: STT) is the world's leading specialist in providing institutional investors with investment servicing, investment management and investment research and trading. With $9.0 trillion in assets under custody and $1.2 trillion in assets under management, State Street operates in 24 countries and more than 100 markets worldwide.

State Street Global Markets provides trading services in foreign exchange, equities, fixed income, derivatives and money market products to institutional investors worldwide. It is the leading provider of transition management and portfolio rebalancing. State Street Global Markets' Global Link network, which is used by 80 percent of the world's largest investors, integrates unique flow-based research and leading-edge electronic trading and crossing platforms to provide access to liquidity and to analytical and trading tools that are designed to enhance returns and reduce risk.

This news announcement contains forward-looking statements as defined by United States securities laws, including statements about the financial outlook and business environment. Those statements are based on current expectations and involve a number of risks and uncertainties, including those related to the pace at which State Street adds new clients or at which existing clients use additional services, the value of global and regional financial markets, the pace of cross-border investment activity, changes in interest rates, the pace of worldwide economic growth and rates of inflation, the extent of volatility in currency markets, consolidations among clients and competitors, State Street's business mix, the dynamics of markets State Street serves, and State Street's success at integrating and converting acquisitions into its business. Other important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by any forward-looking statements are set forth in State Street's 2003 annual report and subsequent SEC filings. State Street encourages investors to read the corporation's annual report, particularly the section on factors that may affect financial results, and its subsequent SEC filings for additional information with respect to any forward-looking statements and prior to making any investment decision. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date hereof, October 19, 2004, and the company will not undertake efforts to revise those forward-looking statements to reflect events after this date.