Pessimism arising from stagnant wages continued to cast a cloud over consumers’ willingness to spend, while investor confidence in the stock market also cooled off slightly, a monthly survey said.
The poll released by Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控) yesterday found that, amid rising inflationary pressures, more than 85 percent of 6,549 respondents said their incomes were unchanged or down from six months ago and that they believed they would remain unchanged in the next six months.
Nearly 40 percent, up 2.2 percentage points from the poll last month, said they were likely to cut back spending on durable goods, or daily necessities, in the next half year, the survey showed.
From a macro point of view, 56 percent of respondents, down from 62.5 percent last month, thought the nation’s economic fundamentals had improved significantly. A total of 45.4 percent, also down from the last month’s 51.7 percent, also said they expected the economy to continue improving in the next six months.
Equity investors also turned more cautious, with about 30 percent of respondents, up from 23.3 percent one month earlier, expecting the TAIEX to trend downward in the next six months.
However, 38 percent remained as optimistic and said they expected the local bourse to swing up in the next six months, the poll showed.
Investors’ risk appetite dropped, with 31.2 percent of respondents, up from 28 percent last month, saying they would not shift their cash or time deposits into equities, the survey found.
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