Taiwan's December export orders to inch 2.2% higher

Industrial output also seen to pick up.

According to DBS, Taiwan's December’s export orders are due today, followed by industrial production on Thursday. DBS expects export orders to rise to 2.2% YoY from 0.8% in the preceding month, and industrial output to pick up to 3.3% from -0.1%.

Here's more:

On the month-on-month basis, export orders growth has risen notably for four straight months and production growth has also turned up in November. The two PMI surveys for December both showed that orders and production increased at the fastest rate over many months.

Another positive sign is that capital goods imports made a decisive turnaround in December, surging to a 2.5 year high of USD 4.1bn (24.7% YoY). This indicates the confidence improvement in the business sector and the planned increase in capital expenditures for 2014.

Admittedly, the actual export shipments remained sluggish as of Dec13 (-1.9% YoY). With the orders and output growth both picking up, export growth (a lagging indicator) is expected to catch up sooner or later.

A broader and more notable improvement in economic data in the coming months is expected to support investor sentiment on the TAIEX and the TWD.