Public confidence in the nation’s economic prospects this month declined at a much milder pace compared with last month, according to a survey released by Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控) yesterday.
About 26 percent of the respondents said they expect Taiwan's economy to improve over the next six months, while 36.5 percent anticipated that the economy will decline over that period, the survey showed.
The figures translate into an economic optimism index of minus 10.5 this month, down from minus 7.6 last month. Last month's figure fell from 14.4 seen in May.
“In contrast to the precipitous drop in June results, the slight decline in this month’s survey results shows that public confidence in the nation’s economic performance is stabilizing,” Cathay Financial economic research department assistant manager Achilles Chen (陳欽奇) said by telephone.
While the recent market volatility caused by the Greek debt crisis had limited impact on Taiwan’s economy, public sentiment was affected by a 13.9 percent annual slide in last month’s exports and major institutions’ downward revisions of forecasts for global economic growth, leading to uncertainty in the job market, the survey showed.
However, housing transactions are expected to rise in the short term, Cathay Financial said, as the survey's findings indicated a rise in the public’s willingness to sell or buy homes in the wake of the government’s recent income tax reforms.
Meanwhile, the survey showed a slight decline in the public’s appetite for investment risk, with 24.4 percent of respondents planning to reduce their equity holdings, and 18.5 percent were willing to increase their stakes.
As for the stock market, 39.7 percent of respondents expect the TAIEX to decline over the next six months, 22.9 percent forecast a rally, 22.4 percent expect no major changes and 15 percent had no opinion.
The local bourse closed nearly flat yesterday from Thursday on thin trading, with the weighted index edging up 0.04 percent to 9,045.98, after declining 0.13 percent in the previous session.
Cathay Financial's monthly survey, which collected 19,331 valid responses from its customers, was conducted between July 1 and July 10 before the Greek parliament passed a bailout agreement on Wednesday.
Additional reporting by CNA
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: The US company could switch orders from TSMC to alternative suppliers, but that would lower chip quality, CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), whose products have become the hottest commodity in the technology world, on Wednesday said that the scramble for a limited amount of supply has frustrated some customers and raised tensions. “The demand on it is so great, and everyone wants to be first and everyone wants to be most,” he told the audience at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc technology conference in San Francisco. “We probably have more emotional customers today. Deservedly so. It’s tense. We’re trying to do the best we can.” Huang’s company is experiencing strong demand for its latest generation of chips, called
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure
RSS