Faced with a slowdown in the global economy and uncertainty compounded by the US-China trade tensions, the TAIEX is not expected to consistently stay above 10,000 points next year, Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) Chairman Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said yesterday.
Koo’s remarks reversed the statement he made on April 19. The TAIEX, which broke a 17-month streak of staying above 10,000 points on Oct. 11, closed 0.14 percent higher at 9,787.53 yesterday.
The capital markets are worried about uncertainties, Koo said at a meeting of the legislature’s Finance Committee, adding that following the fall in local equities, investors do not expect to see the market rise to its peak next year.
However, as listed companies last month reported a 15.05 percent increase in combined pre-tax profit from a year earlier and the average daily turnover on the Taiwan Stock Exchange reached NT$160 billion during the month, Koo said that the equity market remains backed by strong fundamentals.
He expects the momentum to continue next year, he added.
At the meeting, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator William Tseng (曾銘宗) said that some investment consultant firms have forecast that the TAIEX would hover between 8,500 and 10,500 points next year.
Tseng asked Koo if he agreed with the forecast, but the FSC head declined to comment, saying that the forecast had a variance of 2,000 points.
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