MACROECONOMICS
Japan inflation rate dips
Japan reported its inflation rate eased slightly last month as a sales tax high stunted demand. The government reported yesterday that the core consumer price index, which does not include prices for fresh foods, rose 3.3 percent last month, down from the 3.4 percent seen in May. However, factoring out surging energy prices, such as a 10.6 percent rise in the cost of gas, the increase was 2.3 percent. Excluding the direct effect of the April 1 increase in the sales tax to 8 percent from 5 percent, the inflation rate was 1.3 percent, the Bank of Japan says. It has set a 2 percent inflation target, aiming to break Japan out of years of deflation, but forecasts that the rate will remain just above 1 percent for the foreseeable future.
MACROECONOMICS
German confidence rises
Consumer confidence in Germany is edging fractionally higher, driven by rising income expectations, a GfK poll said yesterday. Of particular note was an increase in income expectations to the highest level since unification in 1990, GfK continued. At the same time, Germany’s victory in the FIFA World Cup seems to have had no tangible effect on sentiment, as was expected, it added. Looking ahead to next month, GfK’s headline household confidence index was forecast to rise to 9 points in August from the 8.9 points this month.
INVESTMENT
India opens debt market
India is opening its short-term debt market to foreign investors, but liberalization is to be “in a measured way” to avoid causing volatility, central bank Governor Raghuram Rajan said on Thursday. Addressing a meeting in Colombo on the sidelines of a South Asian central bank governors’ meeting, Rajan said India needed to build more liquidity before liberalization. He said long-term foreign investors wanted a gradual process of opening up of India’s debt market but in a way that did not cause “sharp movements when short-term volatile investors leave.”
INTERNET
Baidu profits rise 34%
Baidu Inc (百度), which operates China’s most popular search engine, says its quarterly profit rose 34 percent from a year earlier as its mobile business grew. Baidu said yesterday it earned 3.5 billion yuan (US$571.1 million) in the three months ended June 30. Revenue rose 58.5 percent to 11.9 billion yuan. Baidu and other Internet companies are building mobile e-commerce and other services as Chinese users shift rapidly to accessing the Internet using smartphones and tablets. The contribution of mobile to Baidu’s total revenue rose above 30 percent for the first time, chairman Robin Li (李彥宏) said in a statement.
RETAIL
Food boosts Starbucks sales
Starbucks Coffee Co said on Thursday its revamped breakfast sandwiches and other food offerings helped boost sales at its US branches. The Seattle-based coffee chain posted a higher quarterly profit, as sales rose in regions around the world. In its flagship US market, sales at established cafes increased 7 percent. Earlier in the day, Dunkin’ Donuts had reported a disappointing increase of just 1.8 percent, with executives citing intensifying competition in the breakfast category. In a conference call with analysts, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz said food had become a strength and drives traffic to cafes, and that the company was just getting started in its efforts to improve its lineup.
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