Taiwan’s consumer confidence index (CCI) this month rose to its highest level since the National Central University launched the survey in 2001, mostly due to the stock market rallying over the past month and the continuing recovery of the economy.
The index rose 1.99 points to 87.58 from last month, posting a month-on-month rise for the third consecutive month, the university’s Research Center for Taiwan Economic Development survey showed.
“The nation’s economy has shown some positive signs since the first quarter of the year ... indicating consumers’ bullish outlook on their finances, which has boosted the CCI to its record-high level,” center director Dachrahn Wu (吳大任) said by telephone.
The index gauges public expectations for the performance of the local bourse, household finances, durable goods, job opportunities, consumer prices and the economic outlook for the next six months.
The survey — which polled 2,436 people over the age of 20 from Thursday to Saturday last week — showed improvements in public sentiment over the five sectors, with the stock market sub-index leading the rise among the six categories.
The stock market sub-index increased by 5.5 points to 97.2 this month from a month earlier, the highest level since January 2011, followed by the sub-index for the economic outlook, which surged 3.15 points month-on-month to 81.8 this month, to reach its highest level since May 2012.
The household finance sub-index, increased by 1.95 points to 79.5 this month from a month earlier, the highest level since June 2012, with the sub indices for job opportunities and consumer prices up 1.25 points and 0.35 points to 111.6 and 46.8 this month respectively.
The durable goods sub index, which mainly looks at sentiment in the housing market, declined 0.25 points to 108.6 this month, the only sector showing a month-on-month drop, reflecting the government’s latest move to curb speculative property transactions.
As the real-estate market is expected to remain a major investment area for local investors in the long term as long as the economy continues to improve, Wu forecast the momentum for the nation’s property market would be sustainable.
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