European bonds recorded their third consecutive monthly gains on speculation that economic growth will remain weak and prompt the European Central Bank to lower interest rates.
"Growth is likely to remain slow," said Angus Sibley, who helps manage 6 billion euro (US$9.9 billion) at Carr Sheppards Crosth-waite Ltd in London. "The ECB will eventually be forced to cut interest rates."
The yield on the German 4 1/2 percent note due in January 2013 fell 13 basis points last month to 4.07 percent. It rose 3 basis points in the past week, after touching 4.02 percent on Monday. The yield on the 3 percent note due December 2004 dropped 14 basis points to 2.54 percent over the month and were unchanged on the week. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point.
Investors sought out the fixed returns of government debt as European consumer confidence slipped in January to its lowest in almost six years. Business confidence declined for the first time in five months. An index of euro region consumer confidence dropped to minus 17 from minus 16 in December, an EU survey showed on Friday. Business confidence fell to -10 from -9. The euro-region's US$7 trillion economy may contract as much as 0.1 percent this quarter, the EU has forecast.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last