Manufacturing sentiment rebounded last month for the second straight month as uncertainties over the global economy gradually fade, the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER, 台灣經濟研究院) said yesterday.
The Taipei-based think tank’s latest report classified the manufacturing sector’s business climate as flashing “blue” — implying a decline — for the sixth straight month.
However, the reading for cyclical movement reached 10.03 points last month, up 0.39 points from the revised 9.64 points posted in July, for the second consecutive month, the report said.
“Despite the sector’s sentiment still being in the slowdown zone, the rising trend for cyclical movement reflected some upsides over the near future,” Gordon Sun (孫明德), director of the institute’s macroeconomic forecasting center, said by telephone.
Sun said he expected the manufacturing sector to start flashing “yellow-blue” — representing weakness — from this month, led by momentum from the electronic components industry.
The launch of new smartphone and tablet products from the late third quarter to the fourth quarter, such as Apple Inc’s iPhone 5 and iPad mini, Google Inc’s Nexus 7 and Amazon.com Inc’s Kindle Fire 2, could help boost sentiment and shipments in the industry, Sun added.
Sun said segments with relatively sluggish sentiment, like the steel and cement industries, may be boosted next year on the back of China’s 12th five-year plan, which runs from last year to 2015.
In the institute’s survey for last month, major industries in the essential goods segment and the transportation segment generally flashed steady “green” and recovering “yellow-red” lights last month under rising demand, the report’s data said.
However, most of the industries in the petrochemical and rubber segments, as well as those in the metal segment, indicated pessimistic sentiment by flashing a “blue” light continuously, the institute’s statistics showed.
US sports leagues rushed to get in on the multi-billion US dollar bonanza of legalized betting, but the arrest of an National Basketball Association (NBA) coach and player in two sprawling US federal investigations show the potential cost of partnering with the gambling industry. Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, a former Detroit Pistons star and an NBA Hall of Famer, was arrested for his alleged role in rigged illegal poker games that prosecutors say were tied to Mafia crime families. Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier was charged with manipulating his play for the benefit of bettors and former NBA player and
The DBS Foundation yesterday announced the launch of two flagship programs, “Silver Motion” and “Happier Caregiver, Healthier Seniors,” in partnership with CCILU Ltd, Hondao Senior Citizens’ Welfare Foundation and the Garden of Hope Foundation to help Taiwan face the challenges of a rapidly aging population. The foundation said it would invest S$4.91 million (US$3.8 million) over three years to foster inclusion and resilience in an aging society. “Aging may bring challenges, but it also brings opportunities. With many Asian markets rapidly becoming super-aged, the DBS Foundation is working with a regional ecosystem of like-minded partners across the private, public and people sectors
BREAKTHROUGH TECH: Powertech expects its fan-out PLP system to become mainstream, saying it can offer three-times greater production throughput Chip packaging service provider Powertech Technology Inc (力成科技) plans to more than double its capital expenditures next year to more than NT$40 billion (US$1.31 billion) as demand for its new panel-level packaging (PLP) technology, primarily used in chips for artificial intelligence (AI) applications, has greatly exceeded what it can supply. A significant portion of the budget, about US$1 billion, would be earmarked for fan-out PLP technology, Powertech told investors yesterday. Its heavy investment in fan-out PLP technology over the past 10 years is expected to bear fruit in 2027 after the technology enters volume production, it said, adding that the tech would
YEAR-END BOOST: The holiday shopping season in the US and Europe, combined with rising demand for AI applications, is expected to drive exports to a new high, the NDC said Taiwan’s business climate monitor improved last month, transitioning from steady growth for the first time in five months, as robust global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) products and new iPhone shipments boosted exports and corporate sales, the National Development Council (NDC) said yesterday. The council uses a five-color system to measure the nation’s economic state, with “green” indicating steady growth, “red” suggesting a boom and “blue” reflecting a recession. “Yellow-red” and “yellow-blue” suggest a transition to a stronger or weaker condition. The total score of the monitor’s composite index rose to 35 points from a revised 31 in August, ending a four-month
RSS