The private sector's sentiment towards the manufacturing sector saw improvement in January. The Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER) said on Wednesday that the optimistic sentiment was due to a steady economic recovery in the United States and the low price of crude oil.
The Taipei-based think tank said the manufacturing composite index for January rose 1.94 points from a month earlier to 99.37. The think tank said the index will likely continue to rise because of an anticipated increase in orders for Taiwanese electronics makers.
But the institute's services composite index lost ground, falling 0.76 points to 95.91 in January as uncertainty over Greece's future in the Eurozone affected sentiment towards Taiwan's securities sector. Sentiment towards the construction sector also remained pessimistic, falling for the 5th consecutive month.