ECONOMY
Federal Reserve favors hike
US central bankers are sharply divided over whether to increase interest rates again this year amid persistently weak inflation, but many still favor a hike, meeting minutes released on Wednesday showed. The continuing disagreements among members of the US Federal Reserve could leave investors and market watchers guessing about the path of US monetary policy in the waning months of the year. Policymakers also said the economic effects of hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, which tore a path of destruction across US territories between August and last month, were likely to be only temporary, the meeting minutes said.
SUPERMARKETS
Tesco to takeover Booker
British wholesaler Booker Group PLC yesterday said it expected its £3.7 billion (US$4.9 billion) takeover by Tesco PLC to be completed early next year, as it reported a 9 percent rise in first-half profit. The agreed deal is currently being investigated by regulator the Competition and Markets Authority and provisional findings are expected by the end of the month, ahead of a final report by the end of the year. Booker made a pretax profit of £88 million in the 24 weeks to Sept. 8, up from £81 million in the same period last year. Total sales rose 2.5 percent to £2.6 billion.
AUTOMAKERS
BMW to outsource the Mini
BMW AG is working on a deal to outsource the manufacturing of Mini cars in China to Great Wall Motor Co Ltd (長城汽車), the country’s biggest SUV maker, according to people with knowledge of the plan. The two companies are discussing possible export of Mini brand cars from China to other markets, the officials said, asking not to be identified as the deliberations are private. Earlier yesterday, Great Wall suspended the trading of its shares in Hong Kong after the stock jumped 14 percent on Wednesday amid speculation in local media that the two companies would form a joint venture.
BEVERAGES
UK duty deflates sales
Sales of Scotch whisky in the UK have declined after British Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond hiked taxes on spirits, according to official figures that provoked calls to reverse the measure in next month’s budget. Government figures show the industry released 36.7 million bottles of Scotch for sale in the first six months of this year, down from 37.7 million in the same period last year. The Scotch Whisky Association industry body wants Hammond to scrap his March announcement of a 3.9 percent increase in spirits duty.
MANUFACTURING
Hon Hai eyes healthcare
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海) is not expected to decide on a second location in investing in Wisconsin until next year, according to the Wisconsin State Journal newspaper. Hon Hai is considering investing in a medical facility in Wisconsin, in addition to a US$10 billion plan to build a flat panel factory, Charlie Alvarez, senior adviser to the president of Foxconn Medical Group (鴻海醫療集團), said on Tuesday in an interview with the newspaper that was published on Wednesday. “Right now, we’re waiting on the other facility to get up and going, and then we’ll get directives on the healthcare group,” Alvarez said. However, a medical-related unit in the state is not definite, he said.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last