Public confidence about the domestic economy and property market improved this month, but remained in negative territory as major barometers stalled, a survey by Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控) showed yesterday.
About 32 percent of respondents expect the economic landscape to turn worse in the coming six months, while 26.7 percent expect an improvement after the National Development Council’s latest business indicator was “yellow-blue,” or a transition signal, in July, the survey said.
More than 70 percent of the people believe it is not a good time to buy a house, while 59.5 percent believe it is not wise to sell either, the survey showed.
The figures represent a decrease in those with misgivings about property transactions, but still suggest a sluggish market where sellers outnumber buyers.
On the stock exchange, 24.5 percent said they plan to trim their investments, while 20.9 percent intend to increase them now that the TAIEX have rallied above the 10,500-point mark, increasing correction pressures. Nearly 50 percent said they would maintain their exising investments.
The findings also indicated an enhanced risk appetite as evidenced by daily transactions of more than NT$100 billion (US$3.32 billion) on the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Cathay Financial attributed the uptick in sentiment to the launch of new iPhone models that could benefit the earnings of the local firms in Apple Inc’s supply chain.
However, geopolitical tensions between North Korea and the US might weigh on global bourses, it said.
The price of gold has risen 17 percent so far this year partly due to geopolitical uncertainty, it said.
A majority of respondents, 53.6 percent, expects the price of gold to climb another 5 percent, while 12 percent are looking at an increase of more than 10 percent, the survey said.
A minority of 5 percent expects the price of gold to fall.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day
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