Taiwanese this month turned less confident about the nation’s economic outlook, stock investments and the purchase of big-ticket items as COVID-19 outbreaks linger and geopolitical tensions escalate, a survey by Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控) showed yesterday.
The monthly survey found that 36 percent of respondents had an optimistic outlook about the nation’s economy in the coming six months, while 33.3 percent believed the economy would deteriorate.
The narrowing gap between the optimists and pessimists came as intensifying military tensions between Russia and Ukraine jolt global markets and deepen inflation concerns, Taiwan’s largest financial service provider by capitalization said.
Photo: CNA
Russia is the world’s third-largest oil producer with an output of more than 11 million barrels per day and the threat of a military conflict with Ukraine has pushed up crude oil prices.
The poll showed that 85.4 percent of respondents believe consumer prices would climb higher, while 92.9 percent said prices have already increased from six months ago.
Nearly 76 percent expect prices of daily necessities to rise at least 6 percent, the survey said after polling 19,523 people online from Feb. 1 to 7.
About 34 percent believe that finding a job would become more difficult in the coming six months, compared with 21.4 percent who expect an improvement in the job market, the survey said.
Only 24 percent of respondents expect an increase in their income, even though the government and a considerable number of companies have announced pay hikes, it said.
Thirty-two percent said they would cut back on purchases of durable goods and 26.9 percent voiced plans to reduce consumption of big-ticket items, the survey found.
About 45 percent said there be would no change either way.
A slight majority, or 50.2 percent, said they would stay put with their investment portfolios, while 32.1 percent intend to increase stakes in local firms and 17.7 percent plan to reduce positions, the survey showed.
The latest figures represent a noticeable retreat in risk appetite from last month, which likely has to do with corrections in global technology shares ahead of expected monetary tightening by major central banks, Cathay Financial said.
The US Federal Reserve has signaled plans to raise interest rates next month at the earliest to curb inflation. Peers elsewhere might follow suit for similar reasons.
About 30 percent of respondents said the TAIEX would trade between 17,000 and 18,500 points in the first half of this year.
Cairo’s new monorail slices across the city skyline, running above the familiar chaos of blaring horns and aging buses’ exhaust fumes that mark rush hour below. The US$4.5 billion monorail, opened this month, is among Egypt’s most prominent new transport projects, part of a debt-funded infrastructure drive criticized for sapping state finances while bringing limited benefits to most of the country’s 109 million people. “It feels like you’re in a different country,” said Ramy Sayed, a restaurant manager, aboard a driverless Innovia 300 train. “No noise, no traffic, we’re not used to this.” The eastern line runs 56km from the bustling middle-class
Taiwanese firms have increased investment in the Philippines in recent years as Manila’s ties with Washington deepen and global supply chains continue to shift away from China, an expert at the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. The Philippines had not been among Taiwanese investors’ top choices in Southeast Asia, CIER Taiwan ASEAN Studies Center director Kristy Hsu (徐遵慈) said at a seminar in Taipei. However, Taiwan’s investment in the country has grown significantly since the COVID-19 pandemic, reaching US $257 million last year, a high in recent years, she said. Although Taiwan’s total investment in the Philippines still lags
Starlux Airlines Co (星宇航空) today unveiled a long-haul network expansion plan at a shareholders’ meeting in Taipei, including direct flights to Barcelona, Spain, and Zurich, Switzerland, as well as a service connecting Taipei, Sydney and New Zealand. Starlux is to become the first Taiwanese carrier to offer non-stop services to the two European cities, while the inaugural oceanic route is expected to expand transit opportunities within the Australia-New Zealand market, Starlux said. Flight services to Chicago, Dallas, Washington and New York are under evaluation, the airline added. Prior to the shareholders’ meeting, the airline earlier this year announced that it would be
Intel Corp regards Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) as a longstanding partner, as the US chipmaker would continue outsourcing production of advanced chips to TSMC, Intel chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) said yesterday. “I don’t look at people as competitors. I look at the collaboration... Nvidia is also, you know, a good friend,” Tan told a news conference following his keynote speech at the Computex trade show in Taipei. “It’s a very trusted partnership for us... We are a big, top customer for them, and we’re going to continue doing that,” he said, referring to TSMC, the world’s largest foundry
RSS