Consumer sentiment this month rebounded by 0.51 percentage points from last month's 67.43, when it dropped to the lowest level since December 2001, a report released yesterday by the National Central University said.
The consumer confidence index (CCI) was 67.94, the university's research center for Taiwan economic development said.
A CCI figure of less than 100 points indicates that the public is pessimistic about the outlook for the next six months, while a score of between 100 and 200 demonstrates optimism, the center said.
The index gauges public expectations on stock performance, household finances, durable goods, job opportunities, consumer price fluctuations and the economic outlook for the next six months.
Of the six sub-indexes, consumer sentiment for price fluctuations showed the biggest increase at 1.9 percentage points to 39.7, with 5.4 percent of respondents expressing confidence that prices would maintain unchanged or become cheaper in the near future.
The score for purchases of durable goods, including houses and electric appliances, was the only one to decrease this month.
"The value of products cannot keep going up. The real estate market appears to have peaked and we've seen price corrections, which explains why consumers showed less optimism for that sector," said Chu Yun-peng (朱雲鵬), the author of the report.
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