The nation’s manufacturers and service providers turned more upbeat over business prospects in the coming six months after external demand and private consumption at home rebounded last month, a survey by a local think tank showed yesterday.
The business climate reading for manufacturing picked up by 0.34 points to 119.1 last month, from a revised 118.76 a month earlier, according to the poll by the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER, 台經院).
The number of manufacturers with optimistic sentiment rose to 30.8 percent last month from 24.7 percent in August, while their counterparts with a neutral outlook dropped from 57.1 percent to 43.7 percent, the report said.
Active trade with emerging economies in Asia and recovering demand in the US and Europe propped up the sentiment, TIER said in a statement.
However, the number of pessimists also reported an increase, from 18.2 percent to 25.4 percent, the poll said.
The institute cautioned that the advent of low season for the manufacturing sector in the first half of next year may drag down the sentiment gauge if domestic manufacturers cannot buoy sales abroad.
A second TIER survey showed that the business climate reading for services stood at 122.75 points last month, up 1.53 from a revised 121.22 a month earlier on improving private spending.
Retail and dining last month saw revenue advance 3.93 percent and 3.84 percent respectively from a year ago, though the wholesale sector contracted 2.12 percent in the same period, the institute said.
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