UNITED STATES
Fed trio push rate hike
Three regional Federal Reserve banks continued to press for an increase in the Fed’s emergency lending rate ahead of last month’s policy-setting meeting, according to minutes released on Tuesday. Directors of the Dallas, Kansas City and Philadelphia Fed banks want the so-called discount rate raised by 25 basis points to 1 percent, in part because of their positive view of the economic outlook and conditions in the financial industry, the minutes said. Those Fed presidents believe that expected economic conditions warrant returning the spread between the discount rate and the federal funds rate back to its pre-crisis level of 1 percentage point. All three have pushed the central bank to tighten monetary policy more quickly, citing the improving economy and inflationary pressures.
GERMANY
Conflicts curb consumption
A closely watched survey shows economic expectations among consumers have “completely collapsed” over concerns about the conflicts in Iraq, Israel and Ukraine. The GfK institute yesterday said its latest index of economic expectations slid 35.5 points this month to 10.4 — the largest one-month decline since the survey began in 1980. Its headline forward-looking consumer climate indicator also fell from 8.9 this month to 8.6 for September. In addition to the conflicts, GfK said that “the gradually accelerating spiral of sanctions in Russia have now also had a negative impact on the previously extremely optimistic economic outlook of Germans.”
RUSSIA
Record grain year expected
Moscow expects a record year in grain exports, with shipments abroad predicted to reach between 27.5 million and 30 million tonnes, the Ministry of Agriculture said on Tuesday. “The export potential is higher, by about 23 percent, from last year,” the ministry said in a statement. “A record export volume of between 27.5 and 30 million tonnes is expected.” The country, one of the world’s top grain exporters, shipped 25.4 million tonnes of grain in the past growing year — July last year through June this year. The harvest is expected to top 100 million tonnes this year, beating last year’s respectable harvest of 92.4 million tonnes.
PHARMACEUTICALS
Allergan board faces vote
Allergan Inc shareholders will on Dec. 18 get the chance to vote on whether to replace members of the drugmaker’s board as part of a US$54 billion hostile takeover fight with Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. The vote comes after Valeant and hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management LP said on Friday last week they had the backing of 31 percent of Irvine, California-based Allergan’s shareholders to call the meeting. Valeant teamed up with investor Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square to help drive a hostile takeover of Allergan. The two sides have fought for months, trading allegations and lawsuits as Allergan rejected Valeant’s offers.
MINING
Newmont pulls Jakarta suit
US giant Newmont Mining Corp said it has withdrawn an international arbitration claim against Indonesia over a controversial mineral ore export ban after a breakthrough in talks with Jakarta. Last month, Newmont announced it was seeking a ruling at the Washington-based International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes to allow it to resume exports of copper from its huge mine in central Indonesia. Newmont said it hoped withdrawing the arbitration filing would help it strike a deal with the government.
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],”