PRECIOUS METALS
Gold hits record high
Gold closed at a record high US$1,357-US$1,358 an ounce in Hong Kong on Thursday, up from Wednesday’s close of US$1,348.50-US$1,349.50. It opened at US$1,339-US$1,340. Dealers are buying up the precious metal as the greenback remains under pressure amid concerns over the global economy. Dollar-based commodities, such as oil, become cheaper for investors with foreign currencies when the US dollar drops. Benchmark oil for November delivery was up US$0.36 to US$83.59 a barrel at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
TRANSPORTATION
Eurostar buying new trains
Eurostar International Ltd, which operates high-speed trains between London and the European continent, said yesterday it would buy 10 new trains from German manufacturer Siemens in a £700 million (US$1.1 billion) program to upgrade and expand its fleet. Eurostar said the new 900-passenger trains would be capable of operating anywhere on Europe’s high-speed rail network as the company looks beyond its current destinations of London, Paris and Brussels. Contract details remain to be negotiated, Eurostar said.
ENERGY
BP inks Caspian Sea deal
British oil giant BP said yesterday it had signed a 30-year deal with Azerbaijan’s state company Socar for joint exploration and production of a major Caspian Sea gas field, but gave no financial details. The Shafag-Asiman block is situated 125km southeast of Baku, and covers an area of around 1,100km2 that has never been explored before. Under the terms of the venture, which will last for 30 years, BP will be the operator with a 50 percent stake, while Socar will have the remaining equity.
REAL ESTATE
British prices plummet
British house prices plunged last month by a record 3.6 percent, home-loans provider Halifax said yesterday, unveiling the biggest monthly drop since the data was first compiled in 1983. Halifax blamed the sharp price drop on an increasing number of properties on the market, and falling demand arising from the uncertain economic outlook. Halifax said the average home price stood at £162,096 last month, 2.6 percent higher than a year earlier.
AUTOMOBILES
Daihatsu recalls minicars
Daihatsu Motor Co, a subsidiary of Toyota, is recalling more than 880,000 minicars in Japan due to defective door mirrors. The recall of 882,006 cars was due to loose attachments that could cause the mirrors to fall off, Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism said yesterday. There have been no reports of accidents due to the defective mirrors. The recalled cars are only sold in Japan, the ministry said. By law, automakers must inform the ministry of a recall.
CONSUMER
Cisco eyes videophones
Cisco Systems Inc says it plans to sell a US$599 box that turns living-room TV sets into big videophones. It’s the first entry by the world’s largest maker of computer networking gear into home videoconferencing, a market that’s been dominated by free, PC--oriented services such as Skype SA. Cisco said on Wednesday that the “umi” device would include a camera and will be controlled by a remote. The service will cost US$25 per month in addition to the purchase price.
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