Confidence jumps among consumers in first rise in two years, survey finds

MasterCard’s consumer confidence index for Thailand jumped more than 10 points for the second half of 2016, sitting at 68.3 points. 
Thailand’s reading of a 10.1 point increase – which it shared with Hong Kong in the regional survey – puts it ahead of Australia, Malaysia and Taiwan.
The survey looked at factors including views on the economic outlook, employment and quality of life.
Indians were the most optimistic people in the Asia Pacific region. Myanmar, Vietnam, the Philippines and Bangladesh rounded out the top five countries. 
 Overall, consumer confidence in the region is holding steady, with the latest survey showing stability – as measured by a score being within five points of the prior result – in nine of the 17 markets.
With an increase of 1.2 points in the overall score from the first half of 2016 to 60.9 points in the second half, Asia-Pacific sits just above the 60-point optimistic mark.
 However, the overall stability masks some significant movements across five markets in the region compared with the previous six months. 
Aside from the gains of more than 10 points in Thailand and Hong Kong, as well as in Bangladesh, Malaysia and Taiwan saw decreases of more than 10 points.
 Bangladesh recorded the largest gain, of 11.2 points, to 82.8 points – a big improvement in overall consumer confidence from the first half’s 4.2 points.
 The increase was backed by an improvement in all components, the largest coming from heightened expectations in stock market movements (up 24.6 points). 
In contrast, eight of the 17 markets saw a |deterioration in confidence from the prior six months. 
The biggest decline in optimism was observed in Taiwan, followed by Malaysia and Myanmar. According to the survey, prospects for the stock market was the key driver of the decline’s in these three countries.