Taiwanese investor sentiment has plummeted over the past two months, as a result of a lackluster stock market performance and rising inflationary pressure, a poll reported yesterday.
Nearly 75 percent of investors suffered losses in the market after the new government took office, with the optimum index dropping to minus 61.31 points this month from 102.37 in April, the largest decline since December 2003, when the bi-monthly survey by the Chinese-language weekly Business Today magazine and Shih Hsin University was first conducted.
The optimum index is a reading used to gauge market sentiment. A positive figure indicates the level of optimism, whereas a negative figure indicates the level of pessimism.
“The huge decline in investor confidence this month is mainly as a result of the fact that April’s index was too high [the second-highest level on record]. Because investors’ expectations [of the new government] were too high, it also led to greater disappointment,” Kuo Nai-fong (郭迺鋒), an associate professor and chair of the finance department at Shih Hsin University, said at a press conference yesterday.
When asked whether investors would be able to reach their investment goals within the next three months, the level of optimism plunged to minus 55.5 points this month from 70.7 in April [the highest level on record], indicating that investors turned pessimistic about their investments in the short term, the survey showed.
In regard to the impact of commodity prices on the stock market over the next three months, the optimism level dropped to the lowest level of minus 76.1 points this month, from minus 10.2 in April, which implies that investors generally believe that commodity prices will continue to rise.
“The rise in commodity prices is a given fact, but the question remains whether the government can effectively eliminate the public’s anticipation of rising commodity prices,” Kuo said, adding that he expected the central bank to raise its benchmark interest rate by another 0.25 percentage points today to combat inflationary pressure.
Over the next two months, 44.93 percent of survey respondents said inflation would become the main factor affecting the local bourse, followed by movement of foreign capital and weakening US economic fundamentals, at 16.68 percent and 9.1 percent respectively, the survey showed.
Super Typhoon Kong-rey is the largest cyclone to impact Taiwan in 27 years, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. Kong-rey’s radius of maximum wind (RMW) — the distance between the center of a cyclone and its band of strongest winds — has expanded to 320km, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. The last time a typhoon of comparable strength with an RMW larger than 300km made landfall in Taiwan was Typhoon Herb in 1996, he said. Herb made landfall between Keelung and Suao (蘇澳) in Yilan County with an RMW of 350km, Chang said. The weather station in Alishan (阿里山) recorded 1.09m of
STORM’S PATH: Kong-Rey could be the first typhoon to make landfall in Taiwan in November since Gilda in 1967. Taitung-Green Island ferry services have been halted Tropical Storm Kong-rey is forecast to strengthen into a typhoon early today and could make landfall in Taitung County between late Thursday and early Friday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, Kong-Rey was 1,030km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), the nation’s southernmost point, and was moving west at 7kph. The tropical storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 101kph, with gusts of up to 126 kph, CWA data showed. After landing in Taitung, the eye of the storm is forecast to move into the Taiwan Strait through central Taiwan on Friday morning, the agency said. With the storm moving
NO WORK, CLASS: President William Lai urged people in the eastern, southern and northern parts of the country to be on alert, with Typhoon Kong-rey approaching Typhoon Kong-rey is expected to make landfall on Taiwan’s east coast today, with work and classes canceled nationwide. Packing gusts of nearly 300kph, the storm yesterday intensified into a typhoon and was expected to gain even more strength before hitting Taitung County, the US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center said. The storm is forecast to cross Taiwan’s south, enter the Taiwan Strait and head toward China, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The CWA labeled the storm a “strong typhoon,” the most powerful on its scale. Up to 1.2m of rainfall was expected in mountainous areas of eastern Taiwan and destructive winds are likely
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday at 5:30pm issued a sea warning for Typhoon Kong-rey as the storm drew closer to the east coast. As of 8pm yesterday, the storm was 670km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and traveling northwest at 12kph to 16kph. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 162kph and gusts of up to 198kph, the CWA said. A land warning might be issued this morning for the storm, which is expected to have the strongest impact on Taiwan from tonight to early Friday morning, the agency said. Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) and Green Island (綠島) canceled classes and work