ECONOMY
S&P cuts the EU’s rating
Ratings agency Standard and Poor’s (S&P) on Thursday cut the credit rating for the EU by one notch, saying that the bloc had grown more uncertain after Brexit. S&P cut the EU’s rating to “AA,” still the third-highest possible level, from “AA+” with a “stable” outlook, which signifies that the agency believes no further cut would be necessary in the medium term. On Monday, both S&P and Fitch downgraded Britain’s rating citing the referendum that decided an exit from the EU. S&P cut the country’s rating from the top “AAA” to “AA,” while Fitch lowered its rating from “AA+” to “AA.”
BANKING
Key interest rate raised
The Banco de Mexico on Thursday raised its key interest rate by half a point to contain inflation and shore up the peso after its battering following Britain’s decision to leave the EU. Facing the prospect of “sluggish” global growth in the second half of this year, the central bank decided to “increase the interbank base rate by 50 points to a level of 4.25 percent,” it said in a statement. Mexico’s GDP saw growth of 2.5 percent last year. This year, the bank predicts the economy should expand between 2.5 percent and 3.5 percent.
CHINA
New home prices slow
The cost of new homes rose at a slower rate last month from the previous month, figures showed yesterday, as measures to tame prices in economy took hold. The average price for new houses in 100 major cities increased 1.32 percent month-on-month to 11,816 yuan (US$1,776) per square meter, the China Index Academy said in a statement, down from April’s 1.7 percent. Year-on-year, new home prices were up 11.18 percent last month, compared with 10.34 percent in May, the academy said.
MINING
Newmont sells PTNNT stake
Newmont Mining Corp, the largest US bullion producer, agreed to sell its Indonesian copper and gold assets for US$1.3 billion as the country pushes miners to build smelters rather than exporting raw materials. PT Amman Mineral Internasional, a closely held Indonesian company backed by three local banks, will buy Newmont’s 48.5 percent interest in PTNNT, which operates the Batu Hijau mine, the Colorado-based company said in a statement on Thursday. Sumitomo Corp also agreed to sell its stake in an asset that Newmont says has a gross valuation of more than US$2.5 billion.
INTERNET
Google to offer ‘Nougat’
Google is serving a new morsel for fans of its Android software: The next version has been dubbed “Nougat,” extending the tradition of nicknaming each overhaul of Android after a sweet food. The Nougat name announced on Thursday comes seven weeks after Google sought suggestions during its annual conference for software engineers. Nougat is scheduled to be released in new smartphones this fall, when the makers of existing Android devices will also be able to enable updates to the new software. Nougat’s new features will include the ability to run apps without actually installing them on a device.
MANUFACTURING
Russian PMI rises
The purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for Russian manufacturers last month jumped to the highest level since November 2014, topping economist forecasts as domestic demand powered gains in orders and output. The PMI surged to 51.5 from 49.6 in May, Markit Economics said yesterday.
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has appointed Rose Castanares, executive vice president of TSMC Arizona, as president of the subsidiary, which is responsible for carrying out massive investments by the Taiwanese tech giant in the US state, the company said in a statement yesterday. Castanares will succeed Brian Harrison as president of the Arizona subsidiary on Oct. 1 after the incumbent president steps down from the position with a transfer to the Arizona CEO office to serve as an advisor to TSMC Arizona’s chairman, the statement said. According to TSMC, Harrison is scheduled to retire on Dec. 31. Castanares joined TSMC in
EUROPE ON HOLD: Among a flurry of announcements, Intel said it would postpone new factories in Germany and Poland, but remains committed to its US expansion Intel Corp chief executive officer Pat Gelsinger has landed Amazon.com Inc’s Amazon Web Services (AWS) as a customer for the company’s manufacturing business, potentially bringing work to new plants under construction in the US and boosting his efforts to turn around the embattled chipmaker. Intel and AWS are to coinvest in a custom semiconductor for artificial intelligence computing — what is known as a fabric chip — in a “multiyear, multibillion-dollar framework,” Intel said in a statement on Monday. The work would rely on Intel’s 18A process, an advanced chipmaking technology. Intel shares rose more than 8 percent in late trading after the