CANADA
Unemployment dips to 7.1%
The economy gained 41,000 jobs last month, driven by demand for healthcare and social assistance workers, according to government data released on Friday that showed a drop in the unemployment rate to 7.1 percent. It was an improvement from the 7.3 percent unemployment rate in February, the highest level seen in three years. Analysts projected unemployment to hold steady last month from February.
JAPAN
Watchdog to discuss HFT
The country’s financial watchdog is taking the next step in its examination of high-frequency trading (HFT). The Financial Services Agency on Friday said it would discuss HFT at the next meeting of the Financial System Council, which will be held in early next month. The council will review if the practice is contributing to market volatility and whether it is having a negative effect on the long-term value of listed companies. The FSA said financial technology topics, such as blockchain, would also be discussed.
ITALY
GDP forecast cut to 1.2%
The government on Friday revised down its growth forecast for this year. Minister of Finance Pier Carlo Padoan said the updated forecast for GDP growth is 1.2 percent, down from a previous forecast of 1.6 percent. It is now expected to reach 1,4 percent next year and 1.5 percent in 2018. The government forecasts its huge public debt burden will drop from 133 percent of GDP last year to 132.4 percent this year and 130.9 percent next year. The deficit is forecast to stand at 2.3 percent of GDP this year and 1.8 percent next year.
SEMICONDUCTORS
NXP mulls unit sale
NXP Semiconductors NV, which last year merged with Freescale Semiconductor Ltd, is weighing a sale of its standard products business, people familiar with the matter said. NXP may seek at least US$2 billion for the unit, which makes diodes, transistors and other standard chip products, the people said. The business has drawn interest from Chinese suitors, including Jianguang Asset Management Co (建廣資產管理), the Beijing-based investment firm known as JAC Capital, the people said.
GREECE
COSCO to buy port stake
The government on Friday signed an agreement to sell a 67 percent stake in operating its biggest port to China’s COSCO Group (中國海運集團). COSCO, owned by the Chinese government, was the sole bidder for the stake in Piraeus Port Authority, a listed company that has a concession to operate the port until 2052. The government will retain a 7 percent stake in PPA and private investors will hold the remainder. The deal needs to be approved by the competition commission and parliament.
PETROLEUM
Chevron, Shell downgraded
Chevron Corp and Royal Dutch Shell PLC had their ratings reduced by one level, while Total SA’s was cut two steps, Moody’s Investors Service said on Friday, as oil prices are expected to stay low this year and the next. Chevron and Shell’s ratings were lowered to “Aa2,” the third-highest grade, from “Aa1.” Total’s rating was brought down to “Aa3,” from “Aa1.” BP PLC’s rating was confirmed at “A2,” Moody’s said.
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
Thousands of parents in Singapore are furious after a Cordlife Group Ltd (康盛人生集團), a major operator of cord blood banks in Asia, irreparably damaged their children’s samples through improper handling, with some now pursuing legal action. The ongoing case, one of the worst to hit the largely untested industry, has renewed concerns over companies marketing themselves to anxious parents with mostly unproven assurances. This has implications across the region, given Cordlife’s operations in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. The parents paid for years to have their infants’ cord blood stored, with the understanding that the stem cells they contained