Securities account balance falls as confidence slipsBy Chen Cheng-hui / Staff reporterThe nation’s securities account balance, a gauge of retail investors’ confidence in local equities, fell to the lowest level in five months last month, as the TAIEX continued to consolidate and stock trading momentum slowed, the central bank said on Tuesday. The securities account balance declined to NT$3.25 trillion (US$100.5 billion) from NT$3.35 trillion in the previous month, data compiled by the central bank showed. A man walks past an electronic stock board at a securities firm in Taipei in an undated photograph. The TAIEX averaged 17,072 points in July, but fell to 16,648 in August and dropped further to 16,570 last month, central bank data showed. The securities account balance decreased by NT$203.9 billion in the past two months and foreign institutional investors net sold NT$188.9 billion of local shares over the same period.
