JAPAN
BOJ easing on hold
The central bank is unlikely to expand its unprecedented economic stimulus for now, Minister for Finance Taro Aso said, citing a surplus of money in the economy and weak domestic demand. “At this point, the government is not thinking about anything like that, and probably the Bank of Japan [BOJ] will not undertake additional monetary easing right now,” Aso said in an interview with public broadcaster NHK that aired on Friday evening in Tokyo. Bank Governor Haruhiko Kuroda earlier in the day said that monetary easing is having the intended effects and the economy has continued to recover modestly.
INDUSTRY
GE Q3 profit declines
Industrial conglomerate General Electric Co on Friday reported a decline in third quarter profit, but strong performances from its core units helped the company top Wall Street expectations. The Fairfield, Connecticut-based company said profit fell 29 percent to US$2.51 billion, or US$0.25 per share. Meanwhile, revenue fell 1 percent to US$31.68 billion. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs and to account for discontinued operations, came to US$0.32 per share.
TECHNOLOGY
Pay cut for Micron executive
Micron Technology Inc chief executive officer Mark Durcan asked the company’s board to have his annual salary reduced by half to US$525,000 as the biggest US maker of computer memory struggles with sluggish sales. The Boise, Idaho-based company on Friday said in a filing that the reduction takes effect today. Micron’s revenue is projected to shrink 24 percent to US$3.49 billion for the quarter ending next month.
STEEL
Tata plans UK job cuts
India’s Tata Steel Ltd is set to announce more than 1,000 job layoffs in the UK, reports said on Friday, in a major blow to the UK steel industry. The job cuts would mainly fall at the plant in Scunthorpe, England, which employs 3,000 people and is the biggest steelworks in the UK. Jobs would also be shed in Scotland, at the Clydebridge and Dalzell plants, said media reports, which spoke of between 1,000 and 1,200 layoffs. Tata Steel declined to comment on the reports.
AVIATION
United boss hospitalized
United Continental Holdings Inc chief executive Oscar Munoz, appointed on Sept. 8, has been hospitalized, the company said on Friday. The Wall Street Journal reported that Munoz suffered a heart attack and is being treated at a Chicago hospital. United Continental, the parent of United Airlines, acknowledged that Munoz was hospitalized, but did not explain why.
COMPUTING
Twitter shares boosted
Former Microsoft Corp chief executive Steve Ballmer on Friday said that he has taken a 4 percent stake in Twitter, expressing confidence in the messaging platform’s new management team. The stake in Twitter by Ballmer would be worth about US$800 million at current share prices. Twitter shares have risen about 25 percent this month after Jack Dorsey was named chief executive officer on a permanent basis.
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