REAL ESTATE
US home construction rises
New US home construction and new building permits both jumped last month, demonstrating rising strength in the housing market, the US Department of Commerce reported on Friday. New construction was up 9.8 percent from May to an annual pace of 1.17 million units, while permitting rose 7.4 percent to an annual pace of 1.34 million units. For the first six months of the year, housing starts were 10.9 percent higher than the year-before period, while permits, an indicator of future construction, were up 16.2 percent.
ECONOMY
Canada consumer prices up
Consumer prices in Canada rose 1 percent on an annual basis last month, up from 0.9 percent the previous month, official data showed on Friday. Statistics Canada said the modest inflation rate was due, in large part, to lower energy prices. The Consumer Price Index rose 2.1 percent during the same period when energy prices are taken out of the equation, officials said. The core inflation rate rose a notch last month to 2.3 percent, compared with 2.2 percent in May, remaining above the central bank’s 2 percent target.
AUTOMAKERS
Ferrari to recall 800 cars
Italian luxury automaker Ferrari is recalling about 800 cars in North America after discovering it had improperly installed Takata Corp airbags. According to the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Ferrari North America is recalling 814 certain model-year 2015 458 Italia, 458 Spider, 458 Speciale, 458 Speciale A, California T, FF, F12 Berlinetta and LaFerrari vehicles.
FINANCE
GE reports quarterly losses
General Electric Co (GE) on Friday reported a second-quarter loss due to restructuring costs. The company saw a loss of US$1.36 billion for the quarter ending June 30, compared with a profit of US$3.54 billion a year ago. However, operating profits from GE’s industrial segment rose 4.6 percent to US$4.36 billion. The company also said it would press on to complete the US$12 billion purchase of French company Alstom SA’s energy business and the US$3.3 billion sale of its appliances business to Sweden’s Electrolux AB.
STEEL
POSCO India project on hold
South Korea’s POSCO Co Ltd, the world’s fifth-largest steelmaker, on Friday said it was placing a US$12 billion steel project in India on hold, as part of the restructuring of its bloated business structure at home and abroad. POSCO, which has 48 subsidiaries under its wing, said the project was launched in 2005, but has made little progress due to delays in getting clearances and acquiring land from local residents.
MERGERS
CF eyes OCI agreement
CF Industries Holdings Inc, the largest US nitrogen-based fertilizer producer, is in talks with Dutch rival OCI NV about a merger, a person with knowledge of the matter said. The discussions are at a very early stage and could still fall apart, the person said, adding that there is no certainty that an agreement will be reached. In October lats year, CF terminated talks with Norway’s Yara International ASA over creating the world’s bigger maker of nitrogen fertilizer.
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