JAPAN
BOJ maintains policy
The Bank of Japan (BOJ) kept monetary policy steady and maintained its upbeat assessment of the economy yesterday, signaling its conviction that inflation will hit its 2 percent target without additional monetary stimulus. As widely expected, the BOJ reiterated its pledge to increase base money, or cash and deposits at the central bank, at an annual pace of ¥80 trillion (US$648 billion) through purchases of government bonds and risky assets. The policy board made the decision by an 8-1 vote. It also said it will cut the number of policy-setting meetings to eight each year, from the current 14.
UNITED STATES
CPI rises on gasoline prices
A surge in gasoline prices pushed consumer inflation modestly higher last month, the fourth month in a row of gains, the Department of Labor said on Thursday. The country’s consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.4 percent last month, almost entirely driven by a 10.4 percent jump in gasoline prices, rebounding from a decline in April. Food prices were unchanged for a second straight month. Compared with a year ago, overall CPI was unchanged. Stripping out food and energy prices, core CPI edged up 0.1 percent, its smallest increase since December last year. Core prices were up 1.7 percent from a year ago.
BANKING
Mitsubishi eyes Manila bank
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc is among companies that have expressed interest in purchasing United Coconut Planters Bank from the Philippine government, a person with knowledge of the matter said. Japan’s biggest bank filed documents showing its interest in the Manila-based lender, the person said. The government received 12 letters of intent from local and foreign entities including banks and private-equity firms, chief privatization officer Toni Coo said earlier this week. Lenders from Malaysia and Taiwan also expressed interest in Coconut Bank, the Wall Street Journal reported earlier.
TELECOMS
Fidelity makes Colt offer
Telecoms provider Colt Group SA’s largest shareholder, Fidelity, offered to buy out minority shareholders in an all-cash bid that values Colt at about £1.72 billion (US$2.73 billion). Independent directors of Colt said in a separate statement the offer undervalued the company and a sale to a third party could potentially achieve a significantly higher offer. The company’s stock hit a high of £1.893, just shy of the offer of £1.90 per share, which represents a 21.3 percent premium to Colt’s Thursday closing price.
AUTOMAKERS
Nokia seeks maps buyers
Nokia Oyj is leaning toward selling its maps business to a group of German automakers, although price differences remain, according to people familiar with the matter. Nokia is aiming to pressure the group, which consists of Audi AG, BMW AG and Daimler AG, to increase its offer by continuing to entertain bids from other automakers, the people said. The carmakers, who are key clients for the technology and first approached Nokia about a sale, may hesitate to pay the as much as US$4 billion being sought for the unit, known as HERE, they said. Final bids are due this week and Nokia could opt for a different bidder for the business, they said.
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],”