Taiwan's local manufacturers remained cautious about business sentiment in May due to weak end-market demand, despite a slight uptick in positive views, according to the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER). The manufacturing industry confidence gauge dropped by 2.02 points to 89.3. However, companies with positive outlooks increased to 29.9%, while those with a negative outlook fell to 24.4%. Positive sentiment among food, leisure, and printing product manufacturers was contrasted by caution in the chemical, machinery, metal, and transportation sectors. TIER Economic Forecasting Center director, Gordon Sun, highlighted that the pace of economic decline has slowed and sectors such as electronics and auto sales may see growth due to new tech product releases and increasing demand for electric vehicles and artificial intelligence applications.