Public confidence in the nation’s economic prospects this month improved at a much stronger pace compared with last month, a survey conducted by Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控) showed yesterday.
The economic optimism index for economic conditions stood at 4.7 this month, the survey showed, a more optimistic assessment than the minus-3 last month.
In addition, the economic optimism index over the next six months rose to 9.8 this month, up from 3.6 a month earlier, it found.
Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA-EFE
Such optimism was also reflected in the indices gauging people’s willingness to purchase big-ticket items and durable goods, which rose to 12.2 and minus-8.7 this month respectively, from 8.9 and minus-12.7 last month, Cathay Financial said.
Overall, people had an average GDP growth estimate of 2.61 percent for this year, with 42 percent of respondents expecting the economy to expand more than 3 percent, the survey showed.
That was better than last month’s survey when people had an average growth estimate of 2.52 percent for this year, with 37.7 percent of them expecting growth higher than 3 percent.
However, respondents appeared relatively conservative about economic growth compared with the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS), which in November last year predicted a GDP growth of 3.35 percent for this year.
The public was also more concerned about inflation than the DGBAS, as people had an average inflation estimate of 2.2 percent for this year, with 54 percent of respondents expecting the consumer price index (CPI) to rise more than 2 percent. Early this month, the DGBAS forecast this year’s CPI to increase 1.64 percent, lower than the central bank’s 1.89 percent projection.
Meanwhile, the survey showed a continued increase in the public’s appetite for stock investment this month, with the optimism index on local stocks rising to 16.6 from 16.1 last month and the index assessing investors’ appetite to take risks also moving higher to 16.2 from 13.9 the previous month.
About 31.9 percent of respondents said the TAIEX would peak at between 18,000 and 19,000 points in the first half of this year, 22.5 percent forecast the index to stay as high as 19,000 to 20,000 points, and 19.9 percent expected a rally to above 20,000 points over the next six months, the survey found.
The TAIEX closed 0.76 percent higher yesterday at 17,815.10, having declined 1.39 percent so far this year.
Cathay Financial’s monthly survey, which collected 17,009 valid responses from its customers, was conducted between Jan. 1 and Jan. 7 before the nation held its presidential and legislative elections on Jan. 13.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: The chipmaker last month raised its capital spending by 28 percent for this year to NT$32 billion from a previous estimate of NT$25 billion Contract chipmaker Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電子) yesterday launched a new 12-inch fab, tapping into advanced chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology to support rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) devices. Powerchip is to offer interposers, one of three parts in CoWoS packaging technology, with shipments scheduled for the second half of this year, Powerchip chairman Frank Huang (黃崇仁) told reporters on the sidelines of a fab inauguration ceremony in the Tongluo Science Park (銅鑼科學園區) in Miaoli County yesterday. “We are working with customers to supply CoWoS-related business, utilizing part of this new fab’s capacity,” Huang said, adding that Powerchip intended to bridge
Microsoft Corp yesterday said that it would create Thailand’s first data center region to boost cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, promising AI training to more than 100,000 people to develop tech. Bangkok is a key economic player in Southeast Asia, but it has lagged behind Indonesia and Singapore when it comes to the tech industry. Thailand has an “incredible opportunity to build a digital-first, AI-powered future,” Microsoft chairman and chief executive officer Satya Nadella said at an event in Bangkok. Data center regions are physical locations that store computing infrastructure, allowing secure and reliable access to cloud platforms. The global embrace of AI
RIDING AI WAVE: : Most of its NT$15bn capital budget would be spent on packaging technologies used in AI and HPC chips and advanced testing technology, it said Chip testing and packaging service provider Powertech Technology Inc (PTI, 力成科技) plans to increase this year’s capital expenditure by 50 percent to expand capacity to meet growing demand for advanced memorychips used in artificial intelligence (AI) products. The company proposed to spend NT$15 billion (US$460.94 million) to expand advanced capacity and equipment, compared with a budget of NT$10 billion it planned three months ago. “We are seeing a recovery in market demand as well as new business opportunities. We will spend heavily on advanced packaging” equipment, Powertech chief executive officer Boris Hsieh (謝永達) told investors on Tuesday. “We will focus on ramping
Qualcomm Inc, the world’s biggest seller of smartphone processors, gave an upbeat forecast for sales and profit in the current period, suggesting demand for handsets is increasing after a two-year slump. Revenue in the three months ended in June will be US$8.8 billion to US$9.6 billion, the company said in a statement Wednesday. Excluding certain items, earnings will be US$2.15 to US$2.35 a share. Analysts had projected sales of US$9.08 billion and earnings of US$2.16 a share. The outlook signals that the smartphone market has begun to bounce back, tracking with Qualcomm’s forecast that demand would gradually recover this year. The San