SEOUL, June 23 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's consumer sentiment improved for a second straight month due to strong semiconductor exports and a booming stock market, central bank data showed Tuesday.
The composite consumer sentiment index (CCSI), which gauges the sentiment of consumers over the economic situation, added 0.5 points from a month earlier to 106.6 in June, after going up 6.9 points in the previous month, according to the Bank of Korea (BOK).
The index hovered above 100, indicating that optimists outnumbered pessimists.
Despite the higher inflationary pressure, consumer confidence continued to improve thanks to soaring demand for locally-made chips used for artificial intelligence infrastructure and the retail investors-driven stock market rally.
The BOK raised this year's outlook for consumer price inflation by 0.5 percentage points to 2.7 percent in late May from three months earlier.
The upward revision was attributable to the prolonged Middle East conflicts, the weaker domestic currency against the U.S. dollar and substantial corporate bonuses in chipmakers.
The sub-index for the current economic situation gained 3 points to 86 in June compared to the previous month, while the index for the economic outlook fell 1 point to 92.
Inflation expectations, which measure the outlook among consumers over headline inflation for the next 12 months, stood unchanged at 2.8 percent in June on a monthly basis.
The result was based on a survey of 2,245 households conducted from June 9 to 16. Enditem
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