The government’s business climate monitor last month flashed “green” for the second straight month, as the nation’s export-focused economy steadily gained traction thanks to improving outbound shipments and industrial production, the National Development Council (NDC) said yesterday.
The total score of the composite index of monitoring indicators' nine constituents gained two points to 29 from the previous month, indicating a continued state of recovery, NDC research director Wu Ming-huei (吳明蕙) said.
“Fast-growing global AI [artificial intelligence] demand is benefiting local firms on the supply chain, catapulting the gauges on exports, industrial output and overtime hours to booming territory,” Wu told a news conference in Taipei.
Photo: CNA
The recovery would grow more evident going forward, as inventory adjustments for technology products would come to an end soon, NDC Minister Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) told a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee earlier this week.
The council uses a five-color system to capture the nation’s economic state, with “green” indicating steady growth, “red” suggesting a boom and “blue” reflecting a recession. Dual colors suggest a transition to a stronger or weaker state.
The index of leading indicators, which aims to forecast economic conditions in six months, increased 0.60 percent month-on-month to 101.68 last month, as readings on the labor accession rates, export orders, construction floor space, share prices and business confidence displayed positive movements, the council said.
The improvements came even though imports of semiconductor equipment and money supply remained soft, it said.
Semiconductor equipment is important because it sheds light on the capital spending of major local technology firms, as Taiwan is home to the world’s largest supplier of advanced chips.
The index of coincident indicators, which reflects the current economic situation, increased 0.32 percent to 100.40, aided by advances in industrial production and manufacturing sales, as well as wholesale, retail and restaurant revenue, the council said.
By contrast, the reading on electricity usage and export volume declined due to fewer working days, it said.
In related developments, the consumer confidence index this month inched up 0.29 points to 73.51, as people feel more optimistic about stock investment, economic growth and household income, a survey by National Central University showed yesterday.
The sentiment on stock investment rose 1.56 points, as the TAIEX remained above 20,000 points despite capital outflows.
The rising popularity of domestic and foreign exchange-traded funds lent support to the local bourse, said Dachrahn Wu (吳大任), director of the university’s Research Center for Taiwan Economic Development, which conducted the survey.
Capital flows to exchange-traded funds are not a bad thing, as they are common investment tools around the world and most target diversified blue-chip stocks, making them relatively stable compared with other investment vehicles, Wu said.
Real estate agent and property developer JSL Construction & Development Co (愛山林) led the average compensation rankings among companies listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) last year, while contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) finished 14th. JSL Construction paid its employees total average compensation of NT$4.78 million (US$159,701), down 13.5 percent from a year earlier, but still ahead of the most profitable listed tech giants, including TSMC, TWSE data showed. Last year, the average compensation (which includes salary, overtime, bonuses and allowances) paid by TSMC rose 21.6 percent to reach about NT$3.33 million, lifting its ranking by 10 notches
SEASONAL WEAKNESS: The combined revenue of the top 10 foundries fell 5.4%, but rush orders and China’s subsidies partially offset slowing demand Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) further solidified its dominance in the global wafer foundry business in the first quarter of this year, remaining far ahead of its closest rival, Samsung Electronics Co, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. TSMC posted US$25.52 billion in sales in the January-to-March period, down 5 percent from the previous quarter, but its market share rose from 67.1 percent the previous quarter to 67.6 percent, TrendForce said in a report. While smartphone-related wafer shipments declined in the first quarter due to seasonal factors, solid demand for artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) devices and urgent TV-related orders
Prices of gasoline and diesel products at domestic fuel stations are this week to rise NT$0.2 and NT$0.3 per liter respectively, after international crude oil prices increased last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) said yesterday. International crude oil prices last week snapped a two-week losing streak as the geopolitical situation between Russia and Ukraine turned increasingly tense, CPC said in a statement. News that some oil production facilities in Alberta, Canada, were shut down due to wildfires and that US-Iran nuclear talks made no progress also helped push oil prices to a significant weekly gain, Formosa said
MINERAL DIPLOMACY: The Chinese commerce ministry said it approved applications for the export of rare earths in a move that could help ease US-China trade tensions Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰) is today to meet a US delegation for talks in the UK, Beijing announced on Saturday amid a fragile truce in the trade dispute between the two powers. He is to visit the UK from yesterday to Friday at the invitation of the British government, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. He and US representatives are to cochair the first meeting of the US-China economic and trade consultation mechanism, it said. US President Donald Trump on Friday announced that a new round of trade talks with China would start in London beginning today,
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