BANKING
HK shares sink on warning
Shares in Hong Kong banks declined after Morgan Stanley cut the sector’s outlook, saying the stocks would underperform as a slowing economy and falling interest rates hurt profitability. Morgan Stanley reduced its recommendation on the industry to cautious from in-line. Falling local interest rates would further cloud the outlook, the brokerage said. While banks are trading below long-term averages, they might continue to de-rate, similar to what is happened in other markets such as China and South Korea, Morgan Stanley said.
INTERNET
Twitter unveils data lapse
Twitter Inc on Tuesday apologized after “inadvertently” using telephone numbers and e-mail addresses for advertising even though the personal data was provided for account security. Twitter users’ telephone numbers and e-mail addresses — submitted to allow account authentication — were matched with advertisers’ own data to enable targeted ads. None of the user data was shared with partners outside of the company and it was unclear how many people were affected, Twitter said. The issue was fixed in the middle of last month, it said.
SHIPBUILDERS
Philippine bid examined
A consortium comprising Australian shipbuilder Austal Ltd and US private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP could make an offer in the coming weeks for Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction Co’s cash-strapped shipyard in the Philippines. The companies, which have until Oct. 31 to submit a bid, are in exclusive talks with creditors and finishing up due diligence, court-appointed receiver Rosario Bernaldo said in a telephone interview on Tuesday. The shipyard in Zambales province is the largest in the Philippines, covering 300 hectares.
BANKING
Rich Latin Americans eyed
Credit Suisse Group AG is considering a return to US wealth management after a four-year absence. Talks have focused on the ambition to add US$15 billion of assets under management at a new base in Miami, mostly catering to wealthy Latin Americans, people familiar with the matter said. If the bank moves ahead, it could employ up to 30 people, including control and support staff in Florida, the people said, asking not to be identified as the talks are private. No final decision has been taken and talks are at an early stage, they said.
ENERGY
Malaysian sale mulled
Exxon Mobil Corp is considering a sale of its Malaysian upstream offshore assets as the US energy giant continues with its divestiture program, people with knowledge of the matter said. The company is working with an adviser on the potential sale of the Malaysian assets, which could raise between US$2 billion to US$3 billion, the people said, asking not to be identified.
AUTOMAKERS
ARM eyes common tech
ARM Holdings PLC is joining with automakers General Motors Co and Toyota Motor Corp to establish common computing systems for self-driving vehicles, an effort the companies hope will speed development of the technology. The company said it was helping to create the Autonomous Vehicle Computing Consortium along with the two automakers and industry suppliers Bosch Corp, Denso Corp and Continental AG. Also helping found the group are Nvidia Corp and NXP Semiconductors NV, both of which embed ARM’s technology in their chips.
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