ECONOMY
US growth beats forecast
The US economy grew even faster in the third quarter than initially thought, posting the strongest six months of growth in more than a decade and pulling further ahead of other top world economies. GDP expanded at a healthy 3.9 percent annual rate in the quarter, the US Department of Commerce said on Tuesday. That is a notable jump from its first estimate of 3.5 percent. Together with a 4.6 percent surge in the spring, the nation has recorded its biggest back-to-back quarterly performance since 2003.
BANKING
US earnings rise 7.3%
US bank earnings rose 7.3 percent in the third quarter from a year earlier, as banks reduced their expenses and continued to lend more money, which helped drive up revenue. The data issued on Tuesday by the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corp showed that the US banking industry continues to recover from the financial crisis that struck six years ago. Banks and other financial institutions insured by the corporation earned US$38.7 billion in the third quarter, up from US$36.1 billion a year ago.
TRADING
TSE balks at evening trades
The Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) has indefinitely shelved plans to hold a two-hour evening session, which was being considered as a way for the bourse to better compete with rivals in Europe and the US. Tokyo’s bourse is open for a total of five hours per day, with a one-hour midday break — less than the six-and-a-half hours on Wall Street and also trailing London and Singapore. An exchange spokeswoman said some opponents worried about how fairly shares would be priced, given the expected weak trading volume in the evening.
SECURITIES
HSBC settles secrecy case
An HSBC unit has agreed to pay US$12.5 million to settle charges that its Swiss private-banking business violated US securities laws. The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said on Tuesday that the private-banking unit failed to register with it before providing brokerage services and investment advice to US clients, allowing it to avoid regulatory scrutiny. The commission says HSBC Private Bank began doing so more than 10 years ago and collected fees totaling about US$5.7 million.
TECHNOLOGY
Spotify revenue increases
The world’s biggest music streaming service, Spotify, on Tuesday said its revenue grew by 74 percent last year, while net losses shrank by a third in a year of spectacular expansion. Revenue reached 746.9 million euros (US$931 million), 91 percent of which came from premium members — paying users — and 9 percent from advertising, Spotify Technology said in a statement. Net losses amounted to 57.8 million euros last year, compared with 86.7 million euros in 2012.
CURRENCY
Naira hits record low
Nigeria devalued its currency on Tuesday, seeking to stabilize the naira after it hit historic lows against the US dollar, as falling world oil prices hurt foreign reserves. The naira’s street value had already fallen before the surprise moves announced by Central Bank of Nigeria Governor Godwin Emefiele. It had been trading at nearly 180 naira to the US dollar, despite the official band of between 150 and 160 naira, and the central bank vowed to continue defending the currency against market pressures.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday obtained the government’s approval to inject an additional US$7.5 billion into its US subsidiary, the Department of Investment Review said in a statement. The department approved TSMC’s application of investing in TSMC Arizona Corp, which is engaged in the manufacturing, sales, testing and design of IC and other semiconductor devices, it said. The latest capital injection follows a US$5 billion investment for TSMC Arizona approved in June. The chipmaker has broken ground on two advanced fabs in Arizona with aggregated investments approved by the department totaling US$24 billion thus far. According to TSMC, the first Arizona
The lethal hack of Hezbollah’s Asian-branded pagers and walkie-talkies has sparked an intense search for the devices’ path, revealing a murky market for older technologies where buyers might have few assurances about what they are getting. While supply chains and distribution channels for higher-margin and newer products are tightly managed, that is not the case for older electronics from Asia where counterfeiting, surplus inventories and complex contract manufacturing deals can sometimes make it impossible to identify the source of a product, analysts and consultants say. The response from the companies at the center of the booby-trapped gadgets that killed 37
FRIENDLY TAKEOVER: While Qualcomm Inc’s proposal to buy some or all of Intel raises the prospect of other competitors, Broadcom Inc is staying on the sidelines Qualcomm Inc has approached Intel Corp to discuss a potential acquisition of the struggling chipmaker, people with knowledge of the matter said, raising the prospect of one of the biggest-ever merger and acquisition deals. California-based Qualcomm proposed a friendly takeover for Intel in recent days, said the sources, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential information. The proposal is for all of the chipmaker, although Qualcomm has not ruled out buying some parts of Intel and selling off others. It is uncertain whether the initial approach would lead to an agreement and any deal is likely to come under close antitrust scrutiny
SECURITY CONCERNS: The proposed ban on Chinese autonomous vehicle software and hardware would go into effect with the 2027 and 2030 model years respectively The US Department of Commerce today is expected to propose prohibiting Chinese software and hardware in connected and autonomous vehicles on US roads due to national security concerns, two sources said. US President Joe Biden’s administration has raised concerns about the collection of data by Chinese companies on US drivers and infrastructure as well as the potential foreign manipulation of vehicles connected to the Internet and navigation systems. The proposed regulation would ban the import and sale of vehicles from China with key communications or automated driving system software or hardware, said the two sources, who declined to be identified because the