MACROECONOMICS
Fed sees rate hike coming
The US Federal Reserve was divided about whether the US economy is strong enough to withstand an interest rate increase, according to the minutes of its policy meeting released on Wednesday. Although policymakers at the US Federal Open Market Committee meeting on July 28 and July 29 viewed conditions getting closer to allowing the first rate hike in nearly nine years, they cited evidence that the time was not ripe. As expected, the committee left the benchmark federal funds rate unchanged at zero, but Fed Chair Janet Yellen has signaled that a hike is on track this year. The meeting record gave no clear indication of when the Fed would pull the rate trigger.
MACROECONOMICS
Norway’s growth slows
Norway’s economic growth slowed in the second quarter, as plunging crude prices sapped investments and drove up unemployment in western Europe’s biggest petroleum producer. Seasonally adjusted GDP, excluding oil, gas and shipping, grew 0.2 percent, after expanding a revised 0.3 percent in the first quarter, Oslo-based Statistics Norway said yesterday. The slump in oil prices is proving painful for the economy, with almost half of its exports related to petroleum. The nation’s central bank cut rates in June for a second time since the price of Brent crude started dropping. It also signaled a probability as high as 70 percent that it would cut rates again this fall.
AIRLINES
Qantas swings into profit
Qantas Airways Ltd yesterday posted a A$557 million (US$409 million) full-year profit in a dramatic turnaround since it recorded a US$2.6 billion loss in the previous year. Australia’s largest airline said in a statement that profit for the fiscal year through June reflected strong performances from all business segments, including its troubled international arm, which turned a A$408 million loss last year into a A$267 million profit. The company has not declared a dividend, but will return A$505 million to shareholders through a A$0.23 per share cash distribution in November. The airline’s underlying pre-tax profit for the year was A$975 million, better than analysts’ expectations of a A$960 million profit.
MANUFACTURING
Li & Fung profit falls 20%
Li & Fung Ltd (利豐), the world’s largest supplier of clothes and toys to retailers, yesterday reported that first-half core operating profit slumped 20 percent amid weak demand in the US and Europe. Core operating profit fell to US$182 million for the six months ended June from US$227 million a year earlier, the company said in a statement. “The oil price decline in the US did not help consumption this time around,” Deutsche Bank analyst Anne Ling (林建純) said in a note before the results were released.
ELECTRONICS
Apple ruling appealed
Samsung Electronics Co has filed a petition to the US Supreme Court in its long-running patent infringement case against Apple Inc, according to court documents. The petition was filed after an appeals court upheld part of a ruling by a California jury that found patent infringement by Samsung, ordering the company to pay about US$930 million in damages to its US rival. The petition “will present at least two substantial questions concerning design-patent liability and damages,” and be filed by November, the court documents filed on Wednesday showed.
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