NEW ZEALAND
Manufacturing drives growth
The economy expanded 0.9 percent quarter-on-quarter in the fourth quarter last year, taking annual growth to 2.7 percent, official data showed yesterday. The figures, driven by a 2.1 percent rise in manufacturing, were in line with expectations and are unlikely to alter the central bank’s policy of tightening interest rates, which began earlier this month. Statistics New Zealand said manufacturing reached its highest level since March 2006 as the economy recorded its 12th consecutive quarter of growth.
UNITED KINGDOM
GDP growth forecast raised
The economy is set to grow faster than expected in the buildup to next year’s general election, Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said on Wednesday in a vote-chasing budget aimed at wooing pensioners and savers. GDP is set to grow 2.7 percent this year, up from the previous forecast of 2.4 percent, Osborne said. The economy is then forecast to expand by 2.3 percent next year, upgraded from the previous growth forecast of 2.2 percent. The economy expanded by 1.8 percent last year.
COMMODITIES
JPMorgan Chase seals deal
JPMorgan Chase & Co said on Wednesday that it has made a deal to sell its physical commodities business for US$3.5 billion as regulators weigh whether to restrict banks’ ability to control power plants, warehouses and oil refineries. If it is approved by regulators, the deal would put the commodities business in the hands of energy and commodities trading company Mercuria Energy Group Ltd. The deal is targeted to close in the third quarter.
EQUITIES
Rogue trader to be jailed
France’s highest court upheld a prison sentence for a one-time rogue trader convicted of carrying out one of the biggest trading frauds in history, but threw out the 4.9 billion euros (US$7 billion) in civil damages he had been ordered to pay back. Jerome Kerviel almost took down his bank, Societe Generale SA, seven years ago with 4.9 billion euros in losses. Convicted in 2010, he sees himself as a victim of a system that turned a blind eye to his illegal trades as long as they made money for the bank. Kerviel is currently in Italy, walking back to Paris on a pilgrimage after meeting the pope.
INTERNET
Pandora wins partial victory
A US judge handed Internet radio company Pandora Media a partial victory in a royalties dispute with music publishers and songwriters in a decision released on Wednesday. The decision, closely watched for its impact on the fast-growing online radio industry, keeps intact the royalty rate paid by Pandora, the largest US Internet radio firm. US District Judge Denise Cote set a five-year royalty rate owed by Pandora to the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers for licensing music at 1.85 percent, the same level as currently exists.
PHARMACEUTICALS
Trial results disappoint
Britain’s GlaxoSmithKline said it was disappointed by some of the results of a stage III trial for a lung cancer treatment, but would continue with it as there could still be a group of patients who may benefit. The company said yesterday that its MAGE-A3 antigen-specific cancer immunotherapeutic did not meet two of its targets in a phase III non-small cell lung cancer clinical trial, but that it is continuing to assess it with regards to a third target.
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has appointed Rose Castanares, executive vice president of TSMC Arizona, as president of the subsidiary, which is responsible for carrying out massive investments by the Taiwanese tech giant in the US state, the company said in a statement yesterday. Castanares will succeed Brian Harrison as president of the Arizona subsidiary on Oct. 1 after the incumbent president steps down from the position with a transfer to the Arizona CEO office to serve as an advisor to TSMC Arizona’s chairman, the statement said. According to TSMC, Harrison is scheduled to retire on Dec. 31. Castanares joined TSMC in
EUROPE ON HOLD: Among a flurry of announcements, Intel said it would postpone new factories in Germany and Poland, but remains committed to its US expansion Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has landed Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a customer for the company’s manufacturing business, potentially bringing work to new plants under construction in the US and boosting his efforts to turn around the embattled chipmaker. Intel and AWS are to coinvest in a custom semiconductor for artificial intelligence computing — what is known as a fabric chip — in a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar framework,” Intel said in a statement on Monday. The work would rely on Intel’s 18A process, an advanced chipmaking technology. Intel shares rose more than 8 percent in late trading after the
FACTORY SHIFT: While Taiwan produces most of the world’s AI servers, firms are under pressure to move manufacturing amid geopolitical tensions Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想) started building artificial intelligence (AI) servers in India’s south, the latest boon for the rapidly growing country’s push to become a high-tech powerhouse. The company yesterday said it has started making the large, powerful computers in Pondicherry, southeastern India, moving beyond products such as laptops and smartphones. The Chinese company would also build out its facilities in the Bangalore region, including a research lab with a focus on AI. Lenovo’s plans mark another win for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who tries to attract more technology investment into the country. While India’s tense relationship with China has suffered setbacks