Business sentiment last month declined 0.49 points to 106.04 points among local manufacturers due to holiday disruptions, ending nine months of increase, despite a generally upbeat outlook about business in the next six months, a survey by the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER, 台灣經濟研究院) showed yesterday.
Firms emerged from the disruptions of the previous month, as evidenced by 52.1 percent of them saying that they have an upbeat outlook, up from 25.8 percent last month, while the share of firms with a conservative outlook dropped from 10.9 percent to 4.3 percent, TIER economic forecasting center director Gordon Sun (孫明德) said.
About 50 percent of electrical machinery suppliers, steel product makers and chemical product producers were forecasting an improvement, while manufacturers in other sectors mostly forecast flat operations with a positive bias, Sun said.
Photo: CNA
Demand for textile products, vehicles, machinery equipment and home appliances gained momentum in China and Southeast Asia as the COVID-19 pandemic was brought under control, the institute said.
Meanwhile, economic recovery expectations bolstered demand for semiconductors, and chip testing and packaging, driving up selling prices, it said.
The confidence gauge for service providers was 99.52 points, up 1.01 points from January, the institute said.
A majority of retail, logistics services, telecoms and financial service providers are positive about their business prospects, while other sectors were looking at flat operations, it said.
The confidence gauge among engineering and construction companies also increased last month, ending three months of decline, supported by public infrastructure projects and businesses returning to Taiwan, the institute said.
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