MACHINERY
November orders jump
Japan’s core private-sector machinery orders, a leading indicator of corporate capital spending, jumped 14.8 percent in November from the previous month, official data showed yesterday. The core data, which excludes volatile demand from power companies and for ships, was significantly stronger than market expectations of a 5.6 percent increase. The robust outcome followed two straight months of decline, as Japanese firms hesitated to invest partly because of the Thai floods, the sovereign debt crisis in Europe and a high yen.
INDIA
Inflation cools to 7.5 percent
Inflation cooled to 7.5 percent last month thanks to lower food prices. The result was roughly in line with expectations. A CNBC-TV18 poll predicted that headline inflation for last month would be 7.4 percent higher than last year. Headline inflation has been above 9 percent every month for nearly two years, prompting the central bank to hike interest rates 13 times in a row. Core inflation, which is thought to be responsive to monetary policy, also remained firm, suggesting that the central bank may hold back from lowering interest rates when it meets later this month, analysts said.
FINANCE
Westerwelle to calm markets
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said on a visit to Athens that it was now time for Europe to create independent credit ratings agencies and calm down markets jittery from constant speculation. During a break from talks with his Greek counterpart, Westerwelle told reporters he thinks it is very important to give agreements and pacts made within the eurozone a realistic chance to work out, adding that this is the only realistic way to bring back trust to the markets. Westerwelle has also met with Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos and conservative leader Antonis Samaras. He said he was glad to see all agreed on the need to pursue reforms in Greece.
COMPUTERS
Samsung to issue bonds
Samsung Electronics Co, the world’s largest maker of computer memory chips, plans to issue its first overseas bonds since 1997 to expand production of processors used in mobile devices, including Apple Inc’s iPhone. The company has sent requests for proposals to banks to borrow as much as US$1 billion to expand production capacity at its factory in Austin, Texas, James Chung, a Seoul-based spokesman for Samsung, said by telephone yesterday, confirming a report in the Korea Economic Daily yesterday. The bonds will be issued by Samsung’s US unit and may have maturities of five years, Chung said.
AUTOMOBILES
BMW recalls Mini Coopers
German automaker BMW AG is recalling 88,911 Mini Cooper cars because of a defect that has caused fires, the US auto-safety regulator said. The circuit board on the electric auxiliary water pumps that cool the cars’ turbochargers can malfunction, overheat and cause fires, BMW said in a posting on the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Web site on Saturday. In October, the agency opened an investigation into Minis after reports of 12 engine fires, including five that destroyed the vehicles. In eight cases, the fires happened when the cars were parked and turned off. The recall includes various Minis from the model years 2007 to last year.
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