Consumer confidence improves slightly, but faith in stock market weakens

Taipei, Aug. 28 (CNA) Taiwan's consumer confidence improves slightly in August, but the faith in the local stock market weakened due to recent global share price volatility, according to National Central University (NCU).

Citing a survey conducted from Aug. 18-21, NCU said Thursday that Taiwan's August consumer confidence index (CCI) rose 0.43 points from a month earlier to 65.01.

The CCI measures sentiment over the next six months across six factors: consumer prices, the domestic economic climate, the stock market, durable goods purchases, employment prospects and family finances.

Among the six factors, four factors moved higher, with two others, including confidence in the stock market, moving lower in August.

The survey found the subindexes on employment, consumer prices, family finances and the local economic climate rose 1.13, 0.75, 0.7, and 0.67, respectively, from a month earlier to 73.32, 36.57, 78.12 and 81.2 in August.

Bucking the upturn, the subindex on the stock market fell to 27.72, down 0.36 from a month earlier, the steepest fall among the six factors, while the subindex on the purchases of durable goods, such as cars and refrigerators, also dropped 0.29 to 93.14, the survey showed.

Dachrahn Wu (吳大任), director of the NCU Research Center for Taiwan Economic Development, told reporters that although the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics on Aug. 14 raised its forecast for Taiwan's economic growth in 2026 to 11.05 percent for 2026, a 39-year high, growth in the CCI was much more subdued.

The Taiex, the Taiwan Stock Exchange's benchmark index, dipped below the 40,000-point mark in late July after heavy losses in the U.S. market driven by inflation concerns and an AI bubble, reducing confidence in the local stock market, Wu said.

He said the fall in faith in the stock market showed many investors preferred to stay on the sidelines, waiting for possible buying opportunities to emerge after a possible further pullback.

Commenting on consumer prices, Wu said heavy rain in southern Taiwan has boosted vegetable and fruit prices recently, adding that he expected the impact on consumer confidence will be demonstrated in a survey in September.

A CCI subindex score of 0-100 indicates pessimism, while a score of 100-200 shows optimism, NCU said, noting that optimism was not seen in any factor of the August CCI.

Also in August, the home-buying index compiled by NCU and Taiwan Realty fell 0.1 points month-on-month but remained above the 90-point mark at 90.03.

The university's August CCI survey collected 3,489 valid responses from Taiwanese consumers aged 20 and older. It has a 95 percent confidence level with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.0 percentage points.