The percentage of manufacturers and service providers that feel pessimistic about their outlook for the coming six months was up last month, amid concerns that the global slowdown will dampen demand and that high raw material costs will cut into profit margins, an industrial report indicated.
The Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER, 台經院), which surveys various sectors of the economy each month on the business climate, said in a report released yesterday that the percentage of pessimists rose to 29.4 percent, up from 28.2 percent in July.
Meanwhile, companies upbeat about their business prospects dropped to 21.6 percent, compared with 30.3 percent a month earlier, the report said, adding that firms with neutral expectations jumped from 41.5 percent to 49 percent.
Chen Miao (陳淼), a TIER researcher, attributed the trend to the weakening demand for communications products, stemming from the turmoil on financial markets worldwide.
“Though exports regained double-digit growth [at 18.4 percent] in August, more makers were cautious on the grounds that momentum could slow in the upcoming months,” Chen told a media briefing in Taipei.
The climate indicator for the manufacturing sectors slipped 2.3 points to 105.33 points last month, compared with 107.6 points in July, the report said.
While makers managed to increase their shipments to emerging markets, the high cost of fuel and raw materials continued to take its toll on their profitability, Chen said.
The climate index for the service sector shed 6.14 points to 100.21 points last month, compared with 113.76 points a month earlier, the report said.
TIER president David Hong (洪德生) said the decline in real wages prompted consumers to tighten their belts, a trend that is likely to persist.
The stimulus measures adopted by the government have failed to address this issue, Hong said.
The institute expected the NT dollar to continue devaluing in the short term.
In Italy’s storied gold-making hubs, jewelers are reworking their designs to trim gold content as they race to blunt the effect of record prices and appeal to shoppers watching their budgets. Gold prices hit a record high on Thursday, surging near US$5,600 an ounce, more than double a year ago as geopolitical concerns and jitters over trade pushed investors toward the safe-haven asset. The rally is putting undue pressure on small artisans as they face mounting demands from customers, including international brands, to produce cheaper items, from signature pieces to wedding rings, according to interviews with four independent jewelers in Italy’s main
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has talked up the benefits of a weaker yen in a campaign speech, adopting a tone at odds with her finance ministry, which has refused to rule out any options to counter excessive foreign exchange volatility. Takaichi later softened her stance, saying she did not have a preference for the yen’s direction. “People say the weak yen is bad right now, but for export industries, it’s a major opportunity,” Takaichi said on Saturday at a rally for Liberal Democratic Party candidate Daishiro Yamagiwa in Kanagawa Prefecture ahead of a snap election on Sunday. “Whether it’s selling food or
CONCERNS: Tech companies investing in AI businesses that purchase their products have raised questions among investors that they are artificially propping up demand Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Saturday said that the company would be participating in OpenAI’s latest funding round, describing it as potentially “the largest investment we’ve ever made.” “We will invest a great deal of money,” Huang told reporters while visiting Taipei. “I believe in OpenAI. The work that they do is incredible. They’re one of the most consequential companies of our time.” Huang did not say exactly how much Nvidia might contribute, but described the investment as “huge.” “Let Sam announce how much he’s going to raise — it’s for him to decide,” Huang said, referring to OpenAI
Nvidia Corp’s negotiations to invest as much as US$100 billion in OpenAI have broken down, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported, exposing a potential rift between two of the most powerful companies in the artificial intelligence (AI) industry. The discussions stalled after some inside Nvidia expressed concerns about the transaction, the WSJ reported, citing unidentified people familiar with the deliberations. OpenAI makes the popular chatbot ChatGPT, while Nvidia dominates the market for AI processors that help develop such software. The companies announced the agreement in September last year, saying at the time that they had signed a letter of intent for a strategic
RSS