Public confidence in the economy has weakened this month on expectations of rising inflation and slower economic growth, a Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控) survey released yesterday showed.
Of those surveyed, 27.8 percent expect the nation’s GDP growth to soften to less than 2 percent this year, while the average growth forecast by respondents is about 2.17 percent, slightly lower than the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics’ (DGBAS) 2.42 percent prediction.
Respondents are also feeling the pinch from rising prices of consumer goods, with 40 percent anticipating inflation will reach between 1.3 percent and 1.5 percent this year, with their predictions averaging 1.33 percent, also higher than the DGBAS’ 1.21 percent forecast.
An index measuring the public’s anticipation of higher consumer goods prices surged to its highest level since June 2012, the survey found.
It also showed that the possibility of a global trade war and the long-running bull market have strained confidence in valuations, leading to a second consecutive monthly dip in an index measuring the public’s risk appetite.
An index measuring optimism toward the local equities market also fell for the first time following two months of moderate gains, the survey found.
It is likely that the liquidity-driven rally will slow over the second half of this year, Cathay Financial economic research department assistant manager Achilles Chen (陳欽奇) said.
The US Federal Reserve’s interest rate hike cycle would be the primary factor affecting global stocks this year, according to 41.7 percent of respondents, while 25 percent said the primary variable would be the stability of China’s economic growth or financial markets.
However, only 11.5 percent deemed a US trade row as a major source of risk, the survey found.
As for the TAIEX, 43.2 percent of respondents expect it to reach between 10,500 and 11,000 points in the first half of the year, while 34.7 percent said it would fall to between 9,500 and 11,000 points.
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
Thousands of parents in Singapore are furious after a Cordlife Group Ltd (康盛人生集團), a major operator of cord blood banks in Asia, irreparably damaged their children’s samples through improper handling, with some now pursuing legal action. The ongoing case, one of the worst to hit the largely untested industry, has renewed concerns over companies marketing themselves to anxious parents with mostly unproven assurances. This has implications across the region, given Cordlife’s operations in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. The parents paid for years to have their infants’ cord blood stored, with the understanding that the stem cells they contained