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This study selected a period from January 1994 to December 2021, totaling 336 months, as the research timeframe. It conducted a comparative analysis of the leading and lagging orders and percentage differences during the peak and trough periods of the business cycle and the Taiwan stock market index. The study aimed to verify the hypotheses presented in the research questions and objectives. Furthermore, it compared the results with past research arguments through statistical data analysis to examine their consistency. The empirical analysis led to the following four conclusions: First, consumer price indices in six categories: education and entertainment, housing, food, transportation and communication, clothing, and medical care, were lagging indicators during economic peaks. This indicates that these indices are greatly influenced by market conditions, with people being more willing to spend on consumption such as food, clothing, housing, transportation, and entertainment during an economic upturn. Second, consumer price indices in five categories: education and entertainment, housing, food, clothing, and medical care, were leading indicators during economic troughs. They reached the trough ahead of time, indicating that these categories react early to the current economic situation. Therefore, these five consumer price indices can be considered leading indicators for economic troughs. Third, consumer price indices in four categories: food, housing, medical care, and education and entertainment, were lagging during peaks and leading during troughs. This indicates a longer period of prosperity and a shorter period of recession, making them indicators of market growth strongly influenced by the stock market index. Thus, they can be considered leading indicators for stock market peaks and troughs. Fourth, the volatility of the six consumer price indices in terms of percentage differences during economic peaks or troughs was relatively low, with little variation and similar percentage changes. Additionally, this study also analyzed the stock market index as a reference point, and the results were generally consistent with the aforementioned findings. The comparison of the average statistical analysis of business cycles and stock market peaks and troughs also aligned with the previous conclusions, indicating the robustness of the research results.
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