Business sentiment among manufacturers improves in November

Taipei, Dec. 25 (CNA) Business sentiment in Taiwan's manufacturing sector improved in November after five consecutive months of decline, the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER) said Wednesday.

Data compiled by TIER, one of Taiwan's leading economic think tanks, showed the composite index gauging business sentiment among local manufacturers rose 1.77 points from a month earlier to 95.2 in November.

TIER's composite index assessing business sentiment in Taiwan's service sector moved up by 1.19 points from a month earlier to 93.11, while its composite index for the construction industry surged by 1.03 points from a month earlier to 104.75.

TIER said that the local manufacturing sector was upbeat about the business outlook in November due to the continued strengthening of the production momentum of the ICT and electronics industry, and the improved production and export performance of old economy industries, TIER said.

However, some manufacturers have become more downbeat about the business outlook for the next six months because of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's impending return to office, rising global political and economic uncertainty.

TIER Economic Forecasting Center Director Gordon Sun (孫明德) said that although import taxes are set to spike under the incoming Trump administration, the U.S. is also expected to introduce tax cuts.

Meanwhile, purchasing sentiment in the retail sector picked up significantly thanks to the Double 11 shopping festival, department store anniversary promotions and the start of large-scale sports events.

At the same time, the depreciation of the Taiwan dollar against the U.S. dollar and the growth of insurance demand in November also promoted a steady increase in premium income, Sun said.

This helped make the retail and insurance industries more optimistic about November's economic performance, with the composite index assessing business sentiment in the local service sector rising for the second consecutive month in November, Sun added.

Regarding the property market, Liu Pei-chen (劉佩真), a researcher at TIER's Taiwan Industry Economics Database, said banks' tightening of loans to home buyers at the behest of the central bank and the Financial Supervisory Commission had made home buyers more cautious.

The government's measures are expected to further impact the housing market over the next six months, Liu added.