EQUITIES
Asian markets follow US up
Tokyo yesterday led gains across most Asian markets, tracking a record on Wall Street as a North Korea crisis eased and dealers breathed a sigh of relief that Hurricane Irma caused less damage to Florida than feared. The UN Security Council on Monday voted unanimously to step up sanctions against North Korea, having won the crucial support of Russia and China, while the US held out hope for a peaceful resolution to the crisis. The move provided a much-needed boost after Pyongyang’s Sept. 3 nuclear test hammered markets last week and sent investors fleeing for the safe havens of gold and the yen.
INVESTMENT
Japan banks seek out returns
Japan’s regional banks are turning toward private equity, hedge funds and real estate in search of higher returns as regulatory concerns restrict ownership of foreign bonds. Alternative assets were the favored choice of investment for five lenders, a Bloomberg survey of 11 regional banks conducted last month showed. Foreign bonds were picked by three respondents, while none of the lenders said they found Japanese government debt attractive given depressed yields. Japanese banks are following the nation’s largest insurance companies in considering more alternative assets as choices narrow, with the Bank of Japan committed to holding down the benchmark bond yield at about zero percent.
SMARTPHONES
Samsung plans flexible Note
Samsung Electronics Co yesterday said it aims to launch a foldable smartphone next year under its Galaxy Note brand. Samsung Electronics president of mobile business Koh Dong-jin said the company intends to release a smartphone with a bendable display next year, but there are several hurdles it has to overcome. He did not elaborate. Analysts said mass producing a foldable smartphone with top tech features and a thin body will take time. When Samsung will release its first foldable smartphone has been a perennial question in the market since Samsung first showcased a flexible prototype called Youm in 2013.
FINANCE
Ezubao executives jailed
Two senior executives of a collapsed peer-to-peer lender were sentenced to life in prison and 24 others punished over what has been called China’s biggest-ever Ponzi scheme, state media reported yesterday. The company, Ezubao, reportedly swindled more than 900,000 investors out of US$7.6 billion, mainly between 2014 and 2015. The brazenly luxurious lifestyles of top Ezubao bosses drew wide attention to the long-running case — one of several recent high-profile trials to shine a light on pervasive fraud and corrupt practices in the Chinese financial industry.
PETROLEUM
Oil steady after hurricanes
Oil yesterday held gains near US$48 per barrel as Hurricane Irma weakened further after moving inland and as Gulf Coast refining continued to recover following two strikes from Hurricane Harvey. Futures were little changed in New York after rising 1.2 percent on Monday. Irma has weakened to a tropical depression as it moves north after dumping heavy rain across Florida and cutting power to millions of people. The hurricanes have rattled energy markets, with Irma shutting Florida gas stations and ports and Harvey earlier halting about one-quarter of the US’ refining capacity.
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
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
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: The US company could switch orders from TSMC to alternative suppliers, but that would lower chip quality, CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), whose products have become the hottest commodity in the technology world, on Wednesday said that the scramble for a limited amount of supply has frustrated some customers and raised tensions. “The demand on it is so great, and everyone wants to be first and everyone wants to be most,” he told the audience at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc technology conference in San Francisco. “We probably have more emotional customers today. Deservedly so. It’s tense. We’re trying to do the best we can.” Huang’s company is experiencing strong demand for its latest generation of chips, called
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure