Beset by discouraging economic data such as exports and manufacturing output, people have a dismal view of the nation’s economic prospects this month, compared with the generally neutral outlook of last month, according to a survey released yesterday by Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控).
About 30.8 percent of respondents said they expect the economy to see a moderate decline over the next six months and 18.9 percent said the economy would worsen seriously over the period, Cathay Financial said.
In this month’s survey, the economic optimism index dropped to minus-46.6, compared with minus-10.5 last month, while the index measuring economic optimism over the next six months slid from minus-10.5 to minus-33.3, representing the most severe decline since the capital gains tax on securities transactions was introduced in 2012.
The survey followed the government announcement last week that it lowered its economic growth forecast for this year to 1.56 percent from the previous estimate of 3.28 percent, after the second-quarter GDP rose 0.64 percent from a year earlier on sluggish exports, far short of the government’s forecast of 3.05 percent.
Downbeat economic prospects have driven investment outlooks on the local stock market to a new low, as the benchmark TAIEX has corrected about 17 percent over the past three months.
The index closed 0.10 percent higher at 8,029.81 points yesterday.
The survey showed that 54.7 percent of respondents expect the TAIEX to decline over the next six months, compared with 39.7 percent last month, while the proportion of investors looking to reduce their portfolios rose from 24.4 percent to 34.2 percent, it showed.
The survey also indicated that investors are concerned over increasing political risk, with 35.2 percent concerned about next year’s presidential and legislative elections, 17.9 percent concerned about the eurozone crisis and 17.2 percent mentioning the downturn in developing economies, with 16.5 percent uneasy about the tumble of Chinese stocks.
Only 13.2 of respondents said they were concerned about the anticipated interest rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve, according to the survey.
Dwindling economic confidence also affected the optimism index in wage growth over the next six months, which dipped from 3.9 to minus-4.8 last month.
Expectations for employment also plummeted from 19.9 to minus-34.1, and willingness to purchase big-ticket items dropped from 7.2 to minus-5.2, the lowest since June last year, the survey showed.
Cathay Financial’s monthly survey, which collected 15,994 valid responses from its banking and insurance customers, was conducted from Aug. 1 to Aug. 7.
To many, Tatu City on the outskirts of Nairobi looks like a success. The first city entirely built by a private company to be operational in east Africa, with about 25,000 people living and working there, it accounts for about two-thirds of all foreign investment in Kenya. Its low-tax status has attracted more than 100 businesses including Heineken, coffee brand Dormans, and the biggest call-center and cold-chain transport firms in the region. However, to some local politicians, Tatu City has looked more like a target for extortion. A parade of governors have demanded land worth millions of dollars in exchange
Hong Kong authorities ramped up sales of the local dollar as the greenback’s slide threatened the foreign-exchange peg. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) sold a record HK$60.5 billion (US$7.8 billion) of the city’s currency, according to an alert sent on its Bloomberg page yesterday in Asia, after it tested the upper end of its trading band. That added to the HK$56.1 billion of sales versus the greenback since Friday. The rapid intervention signals efforts from the city’s authorities to limit the local currency’s moves within its HK$7.75 to HK$7.85 per US dollar trading band. Heavy sales of the local dollar by
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) revenue jumped 48 percent last month, underscoring how electronics firms scrambled to acquire essential components before global tariffs took effect. The main chipmaker for Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp reported monthly sales of NT$349.6 billion (US$11.6 billion). That compares with the average analysts’ estimate for a 38 percent rise in second-quarter revenue. US President Donald Trump’s trade war is prompting economists to retool GDP forecasts worldwide, casting doubt over the outlook for everything from iPhone demand to computing and datacenter construction. However, TSMC — a barometer for global tech spending given its central role in the
An Indonesian animated movie is smashing regional box office records and could be set for wider success as it prepares to open beyond the Southeast Asian archipelago’s silver screens. Jumbo — a film based on the adventures of main character, Don, a large orphaned Indonesian boy facing bullying at school — last month became the highest-grossing Southeast Asian animated film, raking in more than US$8 million. Released at the end of March to coincide with the Eid holidays after the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, the movie has hit 8 million ticket sales, the third-highest in Indonesian cinema history, Film
RSS