JAPAN
Machinery orders down
Machinery orders in May fell for the first time since January and at a faster rate than expected, casting doubt on the strength of capital investment over the coming months amid a global economic slowdown. Core machinery orders, a leading indicator of capital expenditure, in May fell 7.8 percent from April, its biggest fall in eight months, Cabinet Office data showed yesterday. Orders slipped 3.7 percent from the previous year. The latest data show that machine orders fell in both the manufacturing and non-manufacturing sectors.
CHINA
Forex holdings increase
Foreign-currency holdings rose for a second month amid potential capital inflows and positive valuation effects, hitting the highest level in more than a year. Reserves last month climbed to US$3.119 trillion from US$3.101 trillion in May, the People’s Bank of China said yesterday. The value of reserves rose due to a weaker US dollar and higher international financial asset prices, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange said in a statement.
TECHNOLOGY
Broadcom prepared to buy
Broadcom Inc has secured financing and identified cost savings for the acquisition of Symantec Corp in an all-cash deal, people familiar with the matter said. The chipmaker received lending commitments from several banks and sees annual synergy potential of about US$1.5 billion, the people said. Separately, Symantec has drawn interest from its former chief executive officer Greg Clark, who has teamed up with buyout firms Advent International and Permira Holdings in an attempt to muster a competing offer, the people said.
INDIA
Effect of tax hike negligible
The government’s decision to raise duties on gasoline and diesel is unlikely to threaten the inflation outlook, keeping alive expectations of more interest rate cuts from the central bank. Minister of Finance Nirmala Sitharaman’s decision on Friday to increase federal taxes on transport fuels by 2 rupees ($US0.17) a liter would have an impact of less than 10 basis points on headline inflation, Nirmal Bang Equities Pvt economist Teresa John said. The second-round effects could push up the inflation rate by slightly more than 10 basis points.
CHINA
Vehicle sales recover
Passenger-vehicle sales showed signs of recovery from a historic rut as dealers offered discounts to clear inventory before new emissions rules kicked in. Retail sales of sedans, sport utility vehicles, minivans and multipurpose vehicles last month rose 4.9 percent to 1.8 million units from a year earlier, according to preliminary numbers from the China Passenger Car Association yesterday. That is the first increase since May last year for the world’s biggest market.
AVIATION
Flyadeal scraps MAX deal
Saudi Arabian budget carrier Flyadeal reversed a commitment to buy as many as 50 Boeing Co 737 MAX jets, becoming the first airline to officially drop the aircraft since its grounding following two deadly crashes. Flyadeal would operate an entirely Airbus SE fleet, the company said in a statment on Sunday, taking as many as 50 A320neo-family airplanes from Boeing’s European rival. Flyadeal is to take delivery starting 2021 of 30 Airbus A320neo aircraft, with an option for an additional 20 aircraft from the A320neo family.
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
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”