MONETARY
China’s forex reserves rise
Chinese foreign-exchange reserves rose for a third month last month, beating estimates, as tighter capital controls kept money from flowing out of the country and the yuan was stable. Reserves climbed US$20.45 billion to US$3.03 trillion, the People’s Bank of China said on Sunday, compared with a median estimate of US$3.02 trillion in a Bloomberg survey of economists. The onshore yuan declined 0.2 percent against the US dollar last month, the third month in a row in which it has not moved by more than 0.22 percent. It has appreciated 0.6 percent against the greenback so far this year. A gauge of swings in the onshore yuan against the US currency is at the lowest level since August 2015.
AUSTRALIA
Business confidence jumps
Australian business confidence surged to the highest level since 2010 and companies’ conditions advanced further, signaling economic growth could accelerate. The sentiment index jumped 7 points to 13 last month, according to a National Australia Bank Ltd’s survey of more than 400 firms conducted from April 21 to 28. The business conditions gauge — a measure of hiring, sales and profits — climbed to 14 from a revised 12, driven mainly by employment, the bank said.
ENERGY
Russia backs output cut
The Russian Ministry of Energy yesterday voiced its support for a suggestion from Saudi Arabia that OPEC and its allies extend their oil output cuts into next year, doubling down on an effort to eliminate a supply surplus and boost prices. Russia and Saudi Arabia, the largest of the 24 nations that agreed to cut production, are reaffirming their commitment to the deal amid growing doubts about its effectiveness against surging US production. Oil has surrendered almost all its gains since their deal late last year. Ministers are to meet again in Vienna on May 25 to make the final decision on any extension.
REAL ESTATE
UK quarterly prices drop
UK housing prices recorded their first quarterly decline in more than four years, adding to signs that the property market is cooling. In the three months to April, prices fell 0.2 percent compared with the previous three months, lender Halifax said in a report yesterday. Last month alone, prices slipped 0.1 percent, meaning they have not risen for the past four months. Almost every UK gauge is now pointing to a housing slowdown. Annual growth based on data from Nationwide Building Society is at the weakest in almost four years, while gains in asking prices for homes have also lost momentum. Mortgage approvals fell to a six-month low in March, the Bank of England said.
MACROECONOMICS
German factory orders rise
German factory orders expanded for a second month as Europe’s largest economy picked up speed. Orders, adjusted for seasonal swings and inflation, rose 1 percent in March, after expanding an upwardly revised 3.5 percent in February, data from the Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy in Berlin showed yesterday. The typically volatile reading compares with a median estimate for a 0.7 percent gain in a Bloomberg survey. Orders were up 2.4 percent from a year earlier, when adjusted for working days. The Bundesbank said the German economy probably gathered momentum in the first quarter on the back of strong consumer spending and a brightening outlook for manufacturers.
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
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
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
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],”