GERMANY
Industrial output disappoints
Industrial production declined in June, disappointing analysts’ expectations, official data showed yesterday. Production fell 1.1 percent sequentially after a 1.2 percent rise in May, according to figures adjusted for price, seasonal and calendar effects from federal statistics authority Destatis. The June figure fell short of the 0.25 percent growth predicted by analysts surveyed by Factset. Capital goods makers’ output fell 1.9 percent, while producer goods slid 1.2 percent and consumer goods production declined 0.7 percent. Construction output fell 1 percent, while the energy sector was the only one to report increased production, 1.4 percent higher than in May.
MINING
Lonmin to preserve cash
Platinum miner Lonmin PLC said it would cut costs and monetize select assets, including the sale of excess processing capacity of up to 500,000 platinum ounces per year, to maximize cash from processing operations and preserve cash. The measures are in response to a subdued South African economy and inflationary pressures on the platinum mining industry, the firm said yesterday. Lonmin said its cash position made it hard to sustain capital expenditure into its Rowland unit, and that it would look for funding partners and “preserve” about 5,000 jobs. Lonmin added that it plans to reduce annual overhead costs by at least 500 million rands (US$37.2 million) by Sept. 30 next year through right-sizing of operations.
UNITED KINGDOM
Spending at four-year low
Consumers cut back on spending for a third month last month, putting them in their worst slump in more than four years and dealing another blow to the economy at the start of the quarter. The 0.8 percent year-on-year drop in spending was broad-ranging, with clothing, household goods, food and transport among the worst hit, IHS Markit and Visa said in a report published yesterday. The decline is being driven by a squeeze on pockets as inflation outpaces wage growth, as well as concerns among shoppers about the broader outlook after the economy slowed dramatically in the first half of the year.
CURRENCIES
Yuan dips on US jobs report
The People’s Bank of China yesterday set the yuan midpoint at 6.7228 per US dollar, 0.14 percent weaker than the previous fix at 6.7132 per dollar on Friday, dragged down by gains in the greenback following an upbeat US jobs report. The move was the biggest one-day weakening in percentage terms since July 4. The dollar stood tall in early Asian trading after the US jobs report lifted it off 15-month lows. Closely watched data released on Friday showed non-farm payrolls rose by a bigger-than-forecast 209,000 jobs last month, while average hourly earnings increased 0.3 percent to match expectations after rising 0.2 percent in June.
HONG KONG
Home affordability still low
The mortgage-payment-to-income ratio rose to 54.2 percent in June, the highest since 1998, figures from Centaline Property Agency show. The low affordability is a result of the steep rise in home prices, which have kept soaring despite efforts by the territory’s leaders to impose restrictions to cool the market. A gauge of existing home prices, Centaline Property’s (中原地產代理有限公司) Centa-City Leading Index, on Friday broke previous records to reach 160.3. The index has climbed 11 percent this year and has surged more than 50 percent in the past five years.
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],”