JAPAN
Activity index plummets
A key measure of the economy fell to a level not seen since the wake of the financial crisis, adding to concerns about the economy ahead of an October sales-tax hike. The leading coincident index dropped to 93.3 in June, the lowest since February 2010, the Cabinet Office said yesterday. The index is one of the nation’s broadest indicators of current economic activity, drawing on nine measures, including industrial output and shipments of consumer durable goods. Separate data showed that household spending last month rose for a seventh month compared with a year earlier, but fell 2.8 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from June, its third decline in six months.
GERMANY
Few contracts prop orders
Industrial orders rebounded strongly in June, official data showed yesterday, although the relief for the troubled manufacturing sector came mainly from a few large contracts. Producer firms reported 2.5 percent more orders month-on-month, after a 2 percent fall in May, the Federal Statistics Office said in figures adjusted for seasonal and calendar effects. The overall figure remained 3.6 percent lower than in June last year, when the unexpectedly strong growth seen through the previous year was finally running out of steam.
BANKING
Softbank plans bond sale
Softbank Group Corp has tapped Nomura Holdings Inc as lead manager for a domestic bond sale to raise as much as ¥400 billion (US$3.76 billion) in what could be one of the biggest in the local corporate bond market, people familiar with the matter said. The conglomerate is preparing to sell ¥300 billion to ¥400 billion of seven-year notes to individuals, and might set the bond’s marketing range as early as this month for issuance next month, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter has not yet been made public. Softbank has a ¥400 billion bond due on Sept. 12. The main purpose of the planned bond sale is for refinancing, and Softbank has already hired several underwriters for the deal. It is also considering a bond offering to institutional investors that might include seven-year and 10-year notes, according to people familiar with the matter.
TRANSPORTATION
Cairo monorail deal signed
Bombardier Inc on Monday announced that it has signed a multibillion-dollar agreement to build two automated monorail lines in notoriously congested Cairo. The US$4.5 billion agreement, which was signed with the National Authority for Tunnels, is subject to “final signatures of supplementary documents,” Bombardier and its local partners Orascom Construction and Arab Contractors said in a joint statement. The three companies would be responsible for the construction, development and maintenance of the monorail lines for 30 years.
AVIATION
Bottleneck hurts Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC’s cash outflow ballooned in the first half as a bottleneck in plane deliveries at Airbus SE and Boeing Co reduced engine revenue, and stockpiling for a no-deal Brexit led to a buildup of parts. Europe’s biggest jet engine maker posted negative underlying free cash flow of £429 million (US$523 million), almost six times the level of a year earlier. Rolls has about 50 turbines awaiting delivery, compared with the usual 15 or so. CEO Warren East said it should reach its full-year cash goal as the inventory buildup unwinds.
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
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],”
TRANSFORMATION: Taiwan is now home to the largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, thanks to the nation’s economic policies President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday attended an event marking the opening of Google’s second hardware research and development (R&D) office in Taiwan, which was held at New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋). This signals Taiwan’s transformation into the world’s largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, validating the nation’s economic policy in the past eight years, she said. The “five plus two” innovative industries policy, “six core strategic industries” initiative and infrastructure projects have grown the national industry and established resilient supply chains that withstood the COVID-19 pandemic, Tsai said. Taiwan has improved investment conditions of the domestic economy
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day