Public confidence in the nation’s economic outlook has risen to its highest level in nearly two years, thanks to steady fundamentals and declining global crude oil prices, according to a survey published by Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控) yesterday.
The survey showed that 43.4 percent respondents remained optimistic that sentiment over the next six months would improve, with 17.5 percent pessimistic about the issue.
Another 31.2 percent did not expect any change in the economy over the next half of the year and 7.9 had no opinion, the survey’s data showed.
“Since political uncertainty in Taiwan ended after the [Nov. 29] election and the US is showing continuous momentum in its economic recovery, the nation’s economic sentiment remained steady,” Cathay Financial said in a statement.
In addition, steady fundamentals and decreasing oil prices have raised public confidence about consumption, making respondents this month more optimistic about the local stock market and consumer prices, the statement said.
In the survey, 31.9 percent of respondents forecast that the TAIEX would rise over the next six months, while 27.3 percent expected the market to fall during that time.
However, nearly 60 percent of respondents said they were willing to invest in stock market, with more than half of those polled expecting the benchmark TAIEX to stand at between 8,500 and 9,500 points at the end of June.
Cathay Financial said the strong performance of equity markets in the US and China has driven up public investment confidence.
The decision to delay a capital gains tax targeting major players in the equity market has also helped the nation’s stock market maintain a mild and steady upward trend this year, it added.
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