BANKING
Brazil central bank rate hike
The Brazilian central bank on Wednesday raised its key interest rate by 50 basis points to 11.75 percent, surprising many analysts who had expected a rise of just 0.25 percentage points. The rise came on the back of a 0.25 percentage point rise just over a month ago, which was the first since April to tackle rising inflation, which moved just above a government target ceiling of 6.5 percent. The government’s official target is 4.5 percent. Bank Chairman Alexandre Tombini last week said that the nation must “maintain especially vigilant” monetary policy to keep inflation in check.
UNITED STATES
Spending boosts economy
The nation’s economy kept expanding in October and last month, helped by solid gains in consumer spending, manufacturing and overall employment, according to the Federal Reserve’s latest survey of business conditions around the country. The Fed survey found many areas of strength — for the first time this year. The central bank said that business executives remain optimistic about the prospects for growth next year. The gains in economic activity came as overall inflation remained subdued, it said. The report, known as the Beige Book for the color of its cover, will form the basis for discussion at the Fed’s final policymaking meeting of the year on Dec. 16 and Dec. 17.
ECONOMY
Australia faces slow growth
Australian Treasurer Joe Hockey said that the nation’s living standards could fall as the economy slows and a hostile Senate continues to block key budget legislation. The Australian parliament was scheduled to sit for the final day this year yesterday. Hockey urged the Senate to endorse a new tax on medical appointments, a higher tax on gasoline and cuts to university funding when it sits again in February. “There is a risk that Australians could face a fall in living standards,” if the government could not implement its economic strategy, Hockey told Australian Broadcasting Corp. Government figures released on Wednesday showed that economic growth slowed to a lower-than-expected 0.3 percent for the September quarter.
SOLAR ENERGY
Oil price impact downplayed
Plunging prices for crude oil will have little impact on the solar industry, SunPower Corp chief executive officer Tom Werner said on Wednesday. Oil would have to drop “a lot more” for the economics of burning oil or diesel to be cheaper than solar power,’’ Werner said at the Credit Suisse Annual Technology Conference in Scottsdale, Arizona. The price of oil has fallen nearly 40 percent since June, amid swelling supplies from US shale and OPEC’s decision last week to maintain production.
ENTERTAINMENT
Disney raises dividend
Walt Disney Co raised its annual cash dividend by 34 percent to US$1.15 a share from US$0.86 previously, the Burbank, California-based company said on Wednesday. The dividend is set to be paid on Jan. 8 to shareholders of record on Dec. 15. The movie, theme park and TV company has increased returns to shareholders in recent years, with faster dividend growth and stock buybacks. Four years ago, the annual payout stood at US$0.40 a share. The company repurchased US$6.5 billion of its stock in the year that ended on Sept. 27.
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
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],”
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day
TRANSFORMATION: Taiwan is now home to the largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, thanks to the nation’s economic policies President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday attended an event marking the opening of Google’s second hardware research and development (R&D) office in Taiwan, which was held at New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋). This signals Taiwan’s transformation into the world’s largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, validating the nation’s economic policy in the past eight years, she said. The “five plus two” innovative industries policy, “six core strategic industries” initiative and infrastructure projects have grown the national industry and established resilient supply chains that withstood the COVID-19 pandemic, Tsai said. Taiwan has improved investment conditions of the domestic economy