DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
Consumers in Hong Kong and Singapore said they were less optimistic about the economy and showed declines in confidence levels for the upcoming six months, a MasterCard survey showed Tuesday.
Consumers in India, Indonesia, Japan and Taiwan however, registered higher confidence levels as compared to six months ago, the MasterCard Worldwide Index of Consumer Confidence showed.
In Singapore, MasterCard said scores halved from 62.3 six months ago - for the last survey - to 31.2, while Hong Kong's dropped from 41.8 to 24.7. Singapore and Hong Kong are two of Asia's leading economies.
The survey's five indicators - employment, economy, quality of life, stock market and regular income - all dipped compared to six months ago.
"The impact of the global crisis on Asia has been massive, with exports declining steeply in most Asian markets," said Yuwa Hedrick-Wong, the economic advisor to MasterCard Worldwide in the Asia-Pacific region.
"Currently market conditions continue to be volatile, and a high level of uncertainty persists as to what the future may hold," Hedrick-Wong said, according to the statement.
For Asia-Pacific markets, the average consumer confidence score has dipped to a low of 38.7, the Index said.
However, MasterCard also said China and India continue to register high levels of consumer confidence, with India's scores actually increasing over the past six months.
The MasterCard survey has been running for 17 years and is calculated on 0-100 scale, with zero being the most pessimistic. Around 9,200 consumers from 21 markets were interviewed for this survey.
MasterCard Intelligence: www.masterintelligence.com