ENTERTAINMENT
Casinos beat estimates
Macau’s casino gaming revenue last month was better than expected, exceeding the most bullish estimate in a Bloomberg survey. The city’s gaming revenue rose 8.5 percent from a year earlier to 25 billion patacas (US$3.1 billion) last month, according to data released by the Macau Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau. In a Bloomberg poll, the most bullish analysts were forecasting 8 percent growth, while the most bearish predicted a 1 percent decline. Gaming revenue for the first 11 months of the year totaled 276.4 billion patacas, up 13.7 percent, bureau data showed.
INDIA
Banks weigh on economy
Economic growth slowed to 7.1 percent in the July-to-September quarter, official data showed on Friday, as banks endure a liquidity crunch that is hampering investment in Asia’s third-largest economy. Central Statistics Office figures showed GDP growth slowed from 8.2 percent in the previous quarter. Despite the slowdown, the latest figures were up from 6.3 percent for the same period last year and reinforce the nation’s status as one of the world’s fastest-growing economies.
CANADA
Economic growth slows
Economic growth slowed in the third quarter to 2 percent from 2.9 percent, despite a boost in mining and petroleum refining as foreign demand pushed up prices, government data showed on Friday. Statistics Canada said the third quarter was marked by flat domestic demand, falling investment and a small rise in exports volumes.
ITALY
Jobs hit, economy shrinks
The economy shrank in the third quarter, a first since 2014, official data showed on Friday. GDP contracted by 0.1 percent between July and September from the previous quarter, the National Institute of Statistics said, revising down a previous estimate of stagnant or 0 percent growth. Year-on-year, the economy grew 0.7 in the third quarter, statistics agency ISTAT said. Unemployment was up 0.2 percent at 10.6 percent, well above the eurozone average of 8.1 percent, ISTAT said.
AUTOMAKERS
GM boss to visit Capitol Hill
General Motors (GM) co-chief executive officer Mary Barra plans to visit Capitol Hill next week to discuss its plans to halt production at five plants in North America next year and cut up to 15,000 jobs, two US congressional aides said on Friday. Barra is expected to meet in Washington with lawmakers from Michigan and Ohio — where GM plans to shutter three plants — as well as senior leaders in the US Congress.
CHEMICALS
BASF, CVC eye tie-up
BASF SE and private equity firm CVC Capital Partners are exploring the option of combining their construction-chemicals businesses to create a grouts and sealants supplier valued at as much as 6 billion euros (US$6.8 billion), people with knowledge of the situation said. The negotiations for the creation of a joint venture, which is one of the plans under discussion, are at an early stage, the people said, declining to be identified because the matter is confidential. No final decisions have been made, they 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
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
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