UNITED STATES
Trump content with trade
President Donald Trump on Sunday said that he was “very happy” with the trade situation with China and that Beijing would not become the world’s top superpower under his watch. “We’re taking in billions of dollars,” Trump told Fox News Channel’s Steve Hilton when asked about the end game on the trade dispute. “China is obviously not doing well like us.” Trump’s comments signal that he is in no rush to get back to negotiating with Beijing after talks to end the trade conflict fell apart earlier this month.
REAL ESTATE
Foxtons warns sales low
London-focused real-estate agent Foxtons Group PLC aid yesterday said that the property market had seen record low sales volumes in the first quarter, hurting revenue as ongoing Brexit uncertainty hurt consumer confidence. The warning came months after one of Britain’s best-known property names scrapped its dividend for last year and reported a fall in core earnings, hurt by weaker sales and higher costs in a tough market. Foxtons’ group revenue dipped to £23.8 million (US$30.3 million) for the quarter ended March 31, compared with £24.5 million a year earlier.
HOTELS
Centricus acquires resort
Centricus has acquired Capri Palace Hotel & Spa as it makes a foray into the high-end hotel and resorts sector. Centricus, a London-based investment firm that oversees more than US$23 billion in assets, has purchased all of the resort in Anacapri, a small town in the northwest of Capri Island off the Italian coast, a statement seen by Bloomberg said. It features 68 guest rooms and is home to Capri’s only two Michelin-starred restaurants.
BANKING
Goldman to test rules
Goldman Sachs Group Inc is to test Saudi Arabia’s new market rules that aim to limit price swings after share sales. The US bank is acting as stabilization agent for mall owner Arabian Centres, which is expected to start trading this week after completing the kingdom’s biggest initial public offering since 2015. Arabian Centres raised about 2.47 billion riyals (US$659 million) after pricing shares at the bottom end of the range.
FINANCIERS
Reliance protests rating
Reliance Capital Ltd, Anil Ambani’s financial services company, protested against a three-step downgrade by Care Ratings that put its credit score two notches above “junk.” Care Ratings cut the firm’s long-term debt program to “BBB” from “A” and kept it on credit watch with developing implications, according to statements from Reliance Capital and the ratings company on Saturday. Reliance Capital said that Care did not fully factor in the effect of its plan to raise more than 100 billion rupees (US$1.42 billion) via asset sales.
CHINA
Yuan stability to be upheld
The central bank is to maintain basic stability of the yuan exchange rate within a reasonable and balanced range, according to comments posted on its Web site on Sunday. People’s Bank of China Deputy Governor Pan Gongsheng (潘功勝) said in an interview that the central bank was confident in its ability to maintain stable operation of the nation’s foreign-exchange market. The bank would also make the necessary counter-cyclical adjustments and strengthen macro-prudential management, Pan 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