VIETNAM
Central bank cuts rates
The central bank cut interest rates for a sixth time this year and lowered the cap on deposit interest rates to spur economic growth even as the World Bank warned against easing monetary policy too soon. The State Bank of Vietnam’s refinancing rate was cut to 9 percent from 10 percent, the central bank said on its Web site on Friday. The discount rate was cut to 7 percent from 8 percent. The cap on dong deposit interest rates was lowered to 8 percent from 9 percent. The central bank’s rate adjustments aim “to help companies cope with difficulties in production and business,” according to the press release. The central bank cited a “stable money market and improving liquidity at banks” for the reductions.
AUTOMAKERS
GM to sell French plant
General Motors Co (GM) is to sell a French transmission plant to a private Belgian company as part of an effort to end losses in Europe that have totaled US$17.3 billion since 1999. The plant in Strasbourg, France, is to be bought by Punch Metals International, which will retain the employees, according to a GM statement on its Web site on Friday. ZF Friedrichshafen AG, a maker of auto and truck parts, agreed to buy transmissions from the plant. A price was not disclosed. GM will be a customer of the factory next year and in 2014, “to maintain a robust level” of output “to provide for a smooth transition” to a ZF-based product line, the automaker said. The plant employs about 1,000 people.
CLOTHING
Nike profit tops estimates
Nike Inc, the world’s largest sporting-goods company, reported second-quarter profit that topped analysts’ estimates as sales gained in North America and the company controlled its marketing costs. Excluding US$137 million in losses associated with the Umbro and Cole Haan businesses Nike is selling or has sold, profit was US$1.14 a share, the Beaverton, Oregon-based company said in a statement on Friday. Analysts projected US$1 a share, the average of 18 estimates compiled by Bloomberg. While sales have dropped in some regions abroad, Nike’s largest market of North America remains a strength, with revenue in the region gaining 17 percent amid demand for running shoes. Those gains should continue, with orders for the Nike brand from December to April gaining 14 percent in North America.
ECONOMICS
Confidence drops in US
Confidence among US consumers has sunk to its lowest point since July, according to a monthly index. The University of Michigan says its consumer sentiment index for this month fell to 72.9, a sharp drop from last month’s reading of 82.7. Last month’s figure was a five-year high. Peter Newland, an economist at Barclays, says consumer confidence has dropped because of uncertainty over whether the US Congress and US President Barack Obama’s administration will reach a budget deal to avert tax increases and government spending cuts set to take effect next month. Economists said confidence could fall further if the standoff over the “fiscal cliff” persists into next year. Peter Curtin, the University of Michigan’s chief economist for the survey, said the loss of public confidence might be slow to recover even if a budget deal is reached early in the new year.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day
Thousands of parents in Singapore are furious after a Cordlife Group Ltd (康盛人生集團), a major operator of cord blood banks in Asia, irreparably damaged their children’s samples through improper handling, with some now pursuing legal action. The ongoing case, one of the worst to hit the largely untested industry, has renewed concerns over companies marketing themselves to anxious parents with mostly unproven assurances. This has implications across the region, given Cordlife’s operations in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. The parents paid for years to have their infants’ cord blood stored, with the understanding that the stem cells they contained