AI Growth and U.S.-Iran Talks Lift Cathay Economic and Stock-Market Sentiment to Fresh Highs

Cathay Financial Holding's economic confidence survey gauges public views on the economy, consumption and investment. Taiwan's National Development Council kept its economic monitoring signal at red in April. Rising Taiwanese exports driven by AI demand, negotiations following a U.S.-Iran ceasefire and increased capital-spending plans at the four largest U.S. cloud service providers have also helped strengthen confidence in Taiwan's stock market and domestic demand. Cathay Financial did not disclose the amount of the capital-expenditure increases.

Cathay Financial released the results on June 22, 2026, based on 13,376 valid responses collected from June 1 to 7. The indexes for current economic conditions, the economic outlook and willingness to make big-ticket purchases rose to 32, 25.5 and 21.6, respectively. The Taiwan stock-market optimism index reached 54.5 and the risk-appetite index hit 40.6, both record highs. The survey also found that 69% of respondents invest in Taiwan-listed equity ETFs, while 50% plan to buy and hold them for more than one year.