ECONOMY
Brokerages boost intake
Nomura Holdings Inc and Daiwa Securities Group Inc have hired the most university graduates in four years, leading a resurgence in recruitment by Japanese brokerages as the economic outlook improves. About 650 recruits joined Nomura’s domestic securities unit yesterday, 6 percent more than last year, with most to be assigned to retail operations, said Kenji Yamashita, a spokesman for Japan’s largest brokerage. Daiwa boosted its intake by 50 percent to about 450, spokesman Hiroharu Misawa said. The country’s seven largest brokerages increased graduate recruitment by 6 percent to 2,150 in total this year, according to company data compiled by Bloomberg.
ECONOMY
S Korea inflation slows
South Korean inflation slowed to its lowest pace for seven months last month, state data showed yesterday, leaving more room for future monetary easing to boost the economy. The consumer price index for last month rose 1.3 percent from a year ago — slower than 1.4 percent reported in February and the slowest on-year growth since August last year — according to data from the state-run Statistics Korea. The index fell 0.2 percent from the previous month, compared to a 0.3 percent monthly increase in February. Core inflation that excludes volatile food and fuel prices rose 1.5 percent on-year last month compared to a 1.3 percent rise in February.
INDONESIA
Inflation surpases limit
Inflation accelerated to 5.90 percent year-on-year last month, surpassing the upper limit of the central bank’s target range due to an increase in food prices, official data showed yesterday. The rise in the consumer price index was well above the bank’s target range of between 3.5 percent and 5.5 percent for this year, and quicker than the 5.31 percent recorded in February. The statistics office said the increase was driven by surging food prices after the government introduced measures several months ago to limit imports of several products.
AUTOMAKERS
Tesla Motors reports profit
Tesla Motors Inc, the electric carmaker headed by billionaire Elon Musk, said it turned profitable in the first quarter, citing higher-than-expected sales of its Model S sedan. Tesla reached “full profitability” as Model S sales were more than 250 units higher than the 4,500 that the company estimated in the middle of February, the automaker said in a statement on Sunday, without specifying the profit figure. The average analyst estimate compiled by Bloomberg calls for a loss of US$0.11 a share, excluding several items. Tesla has forecast deliveries of the battery-powered Model S would rise to a record 20,000 this year.
TRADE
Deal to begin next month
A free-trade agreement between South Korea and Turkey is to go into effect next month, the latest in a wide-ranging series of trade pacts negotiated by export-dependent South Korea, officials said yesterday. The pact is to remove import tariffs on nearly all products of both countries within the next 10 years, the South Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said. It deals only with products as the two nations have yet to complete negotiations on services and investment, the ministry said. South Korea has already signed free-trade deals with the US, the EU, India, ASEAN, Singapore, Peru, Chile and the European Free Trade Association.
BUSINESS UPDATE: The iPhone assembler said operations outlook is expected to show quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year growth for the second quarter Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday reported strong growth in sales last month, potentially raising expectations for iPhone sales while artificial intelligence (AI)-related business booms. The company, which assembles the majority of Apple Inc’s smartphones, reported a 19.03 percent rise in monthly sales to NT$510.9 billion (US$15.78 billion), from NT$429.22 billion in the same period last year. On a monthly basis, sales rose 14.16 percent, it said. The company in a statement said that last month’s revenue was a record-breaking April performance. Hon Hai, known also as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), assembles most iPhones, but the company is diversifying its business to
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: The chipmaker last month raised its capital spending by 28 percent for this year to NT$32 billion from a previous estimate of NT$25 billion Contract chipmaker Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電子) yesterday launched a new 12-inch fab, tapping into advanced chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology to support rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) devices. Powerchip is to offer interposers, one of three parts in CoWoS packaging technology, with shipments scheduled for the second half of this year, Powerchip chairman Frank Huang (黃崇仁) told reporters on the sidelines of a fab inauguration ceremony in the Tongluo Science Park (銅鑼科學園區) in Miaoli County yesterday. “We are working with customers to supply CoWoS-related business, utilizing part of this new fab’s capacity,” Huang said, adding that Powerchip intended to bridge
Microsoft Corp yesterday said that it would create Thailand’s first data center region to boost cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, promising AI training to more than 100,000 people to develop tech. Bangkok is a key economic player in Southeast Asia, but it has lagged behind Indonesia and Singapore when it comes to the tech industry. Thailand has an “incredible opportunity to build a digital-first, AI-powered future,” Microsoft chairman and chief executive officer Satya Nadella said at an event in Bangkok. Data center regions are physical locations that store computing infrastructure, allowing secure and reliable access to cloud platforms. The global embrace of AI
Qualcomm Inc, the world’s biggest seller of smartphone processors, gave an upbeat forecast for sales and profit in the current period, suggesting demand for handsets is increasing after a two-year slump. Revenue in the three months ended in June will be US$8.8 billion to US$9.6 billion, the company said in a statement Wednesday. Excluding certain items, earnings will be US$2.15 to US$2.35 a share. Analysts had projected sales of US$9.08 billion and earnings of US$2.16 a share. The outlook signals that the smartphone market has begun to bounce back, tracking with Qualcomm’s forecast that demand would gradually recover this year. The San