INTEREST RATES
Thailand cuts rates again
The Bank of Thailand cut its benchmark interest rate for the second time in three months and said it would ease rules on outflows to curb the currency’s gains. Five of the seven Monetary Policy Committee members voted to cut the key rate by a quarter-percentage point to 1.25 percent, the bank said in a statement. Officials told reporters in Bangkok that the central bank was worried about the strength of the baht, which might continue to weigh on the economy. The bank would ease rules on outflows and consider further steps to rein in the currency, they said.
GERMANY
Industrial orders increase
Industrial orders in Europe’s largest economy swelled in September, official data showed yesterday, in a bright spot among forward-looking data weighed down by trade disputes. New contracts increased 1.3 percent month-on-month, federal statistics authority Destatis said in seasonally adjusted data, beating analysts’ forecasts of zero expansion. Counting out the effect of large orders for items like aircraft, which can distort underlying trends, the increase was even sharper, at 1.5 percent.
UNITED STATES
Service sector index rises
Activity in the service sector jumped unexpectedly last month, a welcome sign of sustained growth in the world’s largest economy in the year’s final quarter, a survey showed on Tuesday. The rebound in the Institute for Supply Management survey reversed the decline seen in September, when a three-year low exacerbated recession fears. The closely watched index jumped 2.1 points to 54.7 percent, handily surpassing forecasts. Any reading above 50 indicates growth.
ENERGY
Shell agrees to buy Eolfi
Royal Dutch Shell PLC has agreed to buy French offshore wind developer Eolfi SA, continuing its expansion into renewable power. The Anglo-Dutch oil major is boosting spending on low-carbon energy as it faces pressure to address the risks climate change poses to its business. Eolfi has a foothold in one of the most developed markets for floating wind projects, in the shallow waters off France, which could give Shell the experience and expertise it needs to boost investments in the technology. Shell did not disclose terms for the purchase of Eolfi.
TECHNOLOGY
Softbank hit by start-ups
Softbank Group Corp yesterday posted an operating loss of US$6.4 billion in the second quarter, as it took a massive hit from investments in start-ups, such as WeWork and Uber Technologies Inc. Operating losses in the three-month period that ended on Sept. 30 reached ¥704.4 billion (US$6.5 billion). First-half operating losses from its Vision Fund and Delta Fund came to ¥572.6 billion. Net profit in the six months to September sank 49.8 percent to ¥421.6 billion on an operating loss of ¥15.6 billion.
APPAREL
Adidas voices confidence
Sportswear maker Adidas AG yesterday said it remains confident of hitting its full-year target after profit slipped in the third quarter, buoyed by fast-rising sales. In the July-to-September period, Adidas’ bottom line fell 1.8 percent year-on-year to 646 million euros (US$716 million), but revenue surged 9.1 percent to 6.4 billion euros. Double-digit percentage growth in China and North America was Adidas’ biggest sales driver, while Europe inched up more tentatively.
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],”