UNITED KINGDOM
‘Sea change’ in markets
Bank of England Governor Mark Carney on Tuesday said that the economy is barely growing in the wake of mounting Brexit uncertainties and intensified trade tensions. Carney said in a wide-ranging speech that a “sea change” has taken place in financial markets in the past few months largely related to worries over the global economy. “Looking across the first half of the year, in my view, underlying growth in the UK is currently running below its potential,” he said.
AUSTRALIA
Trade surplus hits record
The trade surplus swelled to a record as mineral exporters cashed in on resurgent iron ore prices, highlighting the nation’s connection to sectors of China’s economy benefiting from fiscal stimulus. The windfall climbed to A$5.75 billion (US$4.03 billion) in May from the previous month’s A$4.82 billion surplus, Bureau of Statistics data showed yesterday. The price of iron ore has surged back above US$100 per ton (0.91 tonnes) and traded above US$123 on Tuesday in response to a supply squeeze and expanding Chinese steel production.
South Korea
Growth forecast cut by 0.2%
The nation yesterday lowered its growth outlook for this year to reflect worse-than-expected declines in exports and investment in the face of global trade woes and a downturn in the tech cycle. The economy is to expand 2.4 to 2.5 percent this year, the Ministry of Economy and Finance said in its second-half policy statement, revising down its previous forecast by 0.2 percentage point. The government also slashed its inflation projection to 0.9 from 1.6 percent, taking account of sluggish price gains seen so far this year.
SWITZERLAND
EU stock curb ‘deplorable’
The government “deplores” the EU’s clamping down on Swiss stock trading amid a dispute over an agreement to streamline political ties, Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research head Guy Parmelin said. The government remains “in contact” with the EU and hopes to find a solution that both parties can agree on in what appears to be a deadlock in talks over the so-called framework treaty that has been more than four years in the making, Parmelin said in an interview with Le Temps.
SOFTWARE
Broadcom eyes cybersecurity
Broadcom Inc is in advanced talks to buy cybersecurity firm Symantec Corp, people familiar with the matter said, seeking a further expansion into the more profitable software business. Broadcom could reach an agreement to buy the Mountain View, California-based company within weeks, the people said. No deal has been finalized and the talks could fall through, they added. A representative for Symantec declined to comment and a representative for Broadcom did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
CRYPTOCURRENCY
Groups lobby to block Libra
Facebook Inc’s plan for its own digital currency is drawing yet another round of fire in Washington, this time in the form of a letter from more than 30 groups influential with Democrats demanding a halt to the project to deal with the “profound questions” it raises. In their letter to leaders of five congressional committees, the groups said that regulators are not prepared to address issues surrounding the Libra project and that the social-networking giant needs to present a fuller picture of its plans.
DECOUPLING? In a sign of deeper US-China technology decoupling, Apple has held initial talks about using Baidu’s generative AI technology in its iPhones, the Wall Street Journal said China has introduced guidelines to phase out US microprocessors from Intel Corp and Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) from government PCs and servers, the Financial Times reported yesterday. The procurement guidance also seeks to sideline Microsoft Corp’s Windows operating system and foreign-made database software in favor of domestic options, the report said. Chinese officials have begun following the guidelines, which were unveiled in December last year, the report said. They order government agencies above the township level to include criteria requiring “safe and reliable” processors and operating systems when making purchases, the newspaper said. The US has been aiming to boost domestic semiconductor
Nvidia Corp earned its US$2.2 trillion market cap by producing artificial intelligence (AI) chips that have become the lifeblood powering the new era of generative AI developers from start-ups to Microsoft Corp, OpenAI and Google parent Alphabet Inc. Almost as important to its hardware is the company’s nearly 20 years’ worth of computer code, which helps make competition with the company nearly impossible. More than 4 million global developers rely on Nvidia’s CUDA software platform to build AI and other apps. Now a coalition of tech companies that includes Qualcomm Inc, Google and Intel Corp plans to loosen Nvidia’s chokehold by going
OPENING ADDRESS: The CEO is to give a speech on the future of high-performance computing and artificial intelligence at the trade show’s opening on June 3, TAITRA said Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) chairperson and chief executive officer Lisa Su (蘇姿丰) is to deliver the opening keynote speech at Computex Taipei this year, the event’s organizer said in a statement yesterday. Su is to give a speech on the future of high-performance computing (HPC) in the artificial intelligence (AI) era to open Computex, one of the world’s largest computer and technology trade events, at 9:30am on June 3, the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) said. Su is to explore how AMD and the company’s strategic technology partners are pushing the limits of AI and HPC, from data centers to
ENERGY IMPACT: The electricity rate hike is expected to add about NT$4 billion to TSMC’s electricity bill a year and cut its annual earnings per share by about NT$0.154 Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has left its long-term gross margin target unchanged despite the government deciding on Friday to raise electricity rates. One of the heaviest power consuming manufacturers in Taiwan, TSMC said it always respects the government’s energy policy and would continue to operate its fabs by making efforts in energy conservation. The chipmaker said it has left a long-term goal of more than 53 percent in gross margin unchanged. The Ministry of Economic Affairs concluded a power rate evaluation meeting on Friday, announcing electricity tariffs would go up by 11 percent on average to about NT$3.4518 per kilowatt-hour (kWh)