Confidence in equity market investment hits 14-month high
Citing a survey conducted April 18-21, NCU said the consumer confidence index for April rose 0.76 points from a month earlier to 77.28, the highest since March 2020 when it was 78.51.
Of the six factors in the CCI, four increased in April from a month earlier, with the sub-index for the timing for investing in the stock market rising 4.4 from a month earlier to 56.9, the highest since February 2020 when it hit 65.50, the survey showed.
The growth in that particular sub-index was the highest among the six CCI factors in April, as the strong domestic economy fundamentals gave significant support to share prices, pushing the Taiex, the benchmark weighted index on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, past 17,000 points, NCU said.
On Thursday, the Taiex dropped slightly to end at 17,566.66, and it was closed Friday for the three-day Labor Day weekend.
Dachrahn Wu (吳大任), director of NCU's Research Center for Taiwan's Economic Development (RCTED), said that although the global economy was hurt in 2020 by the COVID-19 pandemic, Taiwan reported 3.11 percent economic growth, and its gross domestic product (GDP) is forecast to grow as much as 5 percent in 2021, which has encouraged buying among equity investors.
In the first quarter of 2021, Taiwan's GDP grew 8.16 percent, the biggest quarterly hike since the fourth quarter of 2010, while its full-year growth is expected to be around 4.64 percent, according to the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics' (DGBAS) latest forecast.