MACROECONOMICS
No new stimulus from BOJ
The Bank of Japan (BOJ) yesterday held off announcing any fresh measures to stimulate the economy, offering the upbeat view that it was “recovering moderately” while efforts to stoke inflation were taking hold. The decision comes despite a sharp slowdown in July-to-September growth that raised concerns about the strength of recovery in the world’s third-largest economy and fueled speculation that the BOJ would expand its asset-purchasing scheme. “Japan’s economy has been recovering moderately,” the BOJ said in a statement, adding that “inflation expectations appear to be rising on the whole.”
TRADE
Brazil says WTO compliant
Brazil on Thursday denied EU charges it engages in protectionism and said it would show its trade programs conform to WTO rules. The EU took Brazil to the WTO on Thursday, complaining it was using taxes to discriminate against imports and illegally help its exporters. The European Commission cited a 2011 case in which Brazil imposed a 30 percent tax increase on imported vehicles. The tax was due to expire at the end of last year, but was extended in amended form for five further years.
MACROECONOMICS
Germany to borrow less
The German government says it will borrow less money than planned this year, as low unemployment fuels a steady increase in tax income. Current plans call for new borrowing this year of 25.1 billion euros (US$34.3 billion). In its monthly report yesterday, the finance ministry said it now “appears assured” that the government will not need to borrow all of that. Tax revenue last month was up 3.9 percent from a year earlier at 39.48 billion euros. For the first 11 months, it rose 3.3 percent to nearly 495 billion euros.
ENERGY
S Africa halts exploration
South Africa has suspended oil and gas exploration off the east coast following a complaint over the impact of underwater sound pollution on sea life, an official said on Thursday. The government-run Petroleum Agency of South Africa halted seismic surveys along a pristine stretch of coast pending discussions between global oil firms and an environmentalist who blew the whistle on the out-of-season tests.
TELECOMS
Telstra selling CSL stake
Australia’s Telstra Corp yesterday said it was selling its Hong Kong mobile phone business to billionaire Richard Li’s (李澤楷) telecom company in a deal worth US$2.4 billion. Telstra said it would earn about A$2 billion (US$1.8 billion) from selling its 76.4 percent stake in CSL to Li’s HKT Ltd, which is also buying the other 23.6 percent from another company, New World Development. The deal allows Li’s company, which already owns a separate mobile operator, to beef up its presence in the territory’s saturated mobile market. It also lets Telstra make a profitable exit ahead of a shakeup by Hong Kong’s telecommunications regulator aimed at boosting competition.
SPORTING GOODS
Nike Q2 beats estimates
Nike Inc, the world’s largest sporting-goods company, posted second-quarter profit that topped analysts’ estimates as higher-priced shoes boosted sales. Net income in the three months through November rose 40 percent to US$537 million, or US$0.59 a share, from US$384 million, or US$0.42, a year earlier, the company said in a statement. Profit excluding some items was US$0.59 a share.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
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
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
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],”