UNITED STATES
Survey suggests easing
JPMorgan Chase & Co said the Treasury market is acting like the US Federal Reserve is more likely to ease policy than to tighten. The bank’s client survey showed 75 percent of respondents were neutral on the bond market, a five-year high. Curiously, the poll has only favored neutrality to such an extent on 22 occasions in its 26-year history. “Every other instance has occurred just prior to or during a Fed easing regime,” JPMorgan said. “Investors appear to be de-risking as geopolitical tensions have risen and in anticipation of domestic fiscal issues, which could further contribute to uncertainty in September.” Yields on 10-year Treasuries dropped to a nine-month low of 2.08 percent this week, as North Korea lobbed missiles over Japan.
MINING
Sibanye not paying dividend
Sibanye Gold Ltd said it would not pay an interim dividend for the first time since it began trading in 2013, as the biggest producer of South African gold reported a first-half loss. The results in the six months through June were affected by a big impairment charge on unprofitable mines it plans to close, provision for a settlement in a lung disease class-action lawsuit and financing costs following its US$2.2 billion purchase of US platinum-group metals producer Stillwater Mining Co. Sibanye’s net debt following the Stillwater deal rose to US$1.69 billion at the end of June.
BANKING
ICBC’s Q2 profits rise 2.3%
Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd (ICBC, 中國工商銀行) the world’s largest lender by assets, reported a 2.3 percent gain in second-quarter profit as it reined in bad loans. Net income for the three months through June rose to 77.2 billion yuan (US$11.7 billion), from 75.45 billion yuan a year earlier, according to quarterly figures derived from first-half earnings ICBC reported to Hong Kong’s stock exchange yesterday. China’s economic recovery has helped fuel loan growth at the four biggest banks, which together control about one-third of the nation’s US$36 trillion of banking assets.
BANKING
Berkshire buys BoA shares
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc exercised warrants to buy 700 million shares of Bank of America Corp (BoA), locking in an US$11.5 billion investment gain in a move that was telegraphed earlier this year. Buffett invested US$5 billion in the bank in 2011, in exchange for preferred stock and the right to buy common shares. The cash infusion helped the bank put to rest doubts about whether it had enough capital and its shares have more than tripled since then.
ENERGY
Petrofac earnings fall 10.7%
British oilfield services company Petrofac Ltd yesterday reported a 10.7 percent fall in core earnings for the first-half, as subdued oil prices forced exploration and drilling companies to defer or cancel service contracts. The order backlog stood at US$12.5 billion as of June 30, said the company, which designs, builds, operates and maintains oil and gas facilities. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization fell to US$323 million for the first half ended June 30. Revenue for the half year fell about 20 percent to US$3.13 billion. Petrofac also declared a dividend of US$12.7 per share for the half year, a reduction of 42 percent compared to last year.
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
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
FACTORY SHIFT: While Taiwan produces most of the world’s AI servers, firms are under pressure to move manufacturing amid geopolitical tensions Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想) started building artificial intelligence (AI) servers in India’s south, the latest boon for the rapidly growing country’s push to become a high-tech powerhouse. The company yesterday said it has started making the large, powerful computers in Pondicherry, southeastern India, moving beyond products such as laptops and smartphones. The Chinese company would also build out its facilities in the Bangalore region, including a research lab with a focus on AI. Lenovo’s plans mark another win for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who tries to attract more technology investment into the country. While India’s tense relationship with China has suffered setbacks