Media Reports
Taipei, Oct. 28 (CNA) Taiwan's consumer confidence index (CCI) reached an 18-month high in October, with all of the six factors in the index moving higher from a month earlier, according to National Central University (NCU). NCU said that while domestic demand stayed stable in the post-COVID-19 era, concerns over Taiwan's export performance remained in place. Citing a survey conducted from Oct. 18-21, NCU said on Friday that the CCI rose 2.33 points from a month earlier to 69.09, the highest level since April 2022, when the index stood at 71.77. According to NCU, the CCI gauges the level of confidence people have toward employment prospects, family finances, consumer prices, the local economic climate, the stock market and the likelihood of purchasing durable goods over the next six months. The CCI's stock market subindex hit 49.56 points in October, up 4.66 from a month earlier and the largest increase out of all six indicators, NCU said. Dachrahn Wu (吳大任), director of NCU's Research Center for Taiwan Economic Development, said the optimism toward the stock market came as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), the world's largest contract chipmaker, gave positive leads at its latest investor conference on Oct. 19. At the investor conference, TSMC CEO C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said that the chipmaker was optimistic about the fourth quarter after toughing out recent inventory adjustments in the global semiconductor industry. In addition, Wei told investors that growing demand for TSMC's most advanced 3 nanometer process, which entered commercial production at the end of last year, was forecast to continue into next year. Confidence in TSMC has also been buoyed by the chipmaker's decision to leave its capital expenditure plan for 2023 unchanged at US$32 billion despite weakening global demand, Wu said. Wu said that while the positive signals from TSMC's investor conference bolstered investor confidence in the stock market, the local main board faced headwinds amid volatility in the U.S. markets after the survey was completed. The subindexes on consumer prices, family finances, employment, the local economic climate, and purchases of durable goods also moved higher by 3.16, 1.91, 1.83, 1.61 and 0.80, respectively, from a month earlier to 28.06, 76.86, 67.23, 81.61 and 111.0 in October, according to the survey. Wu said the increases in the indexes on family finances, employment and the local economic climate primarily reflected solid domestic demand in the retail and food and beverage industries during the summer vacation. However, Taiwan's export-orientated economy has yet to mount a full comeback as high interest rates and inflation continue to depress global demand and slow economic recovery in major countries, Wu added. In addition, escalating trade tensions between the United States and China are likely to make Taiwan's export performance more uncertain and could affect the global stock markets, impacting consumer confidence down the road, Wu said. A subindex score of 0-100 indicates pessimism, while a score of 100-200 shows optimism, NCU said, noting that there was only optimism over the likelihood of purchasing durable goods over the next six months. Meanwhile, another NCU survey conducted jointly with Taiwan Realty showed a month-over-month increase of 0.66 points in October in the index for home buying, which rose to 106.36. The university's CCI survey in October collected 2,986 valid questionnaires from consumers in Taiwan aged 20 and over. It had a confidence level of 95 percent and a margin of error of plus or minus 2.0 percentage points.
