UNITED STATES
Trade deficit extends decline
The nation’s trade deficit continued to tumble in November last year, hitting its lowest level in three years as imports of crude oil, computers and industrial supplies fell off sharply, the government reported on Tuesday. The trade gap fell 8.2 percent to US$43.1 billion, even less than economists had expected and the lowest since October 2016, Department of Commerce data showed. Imports fell 1.7 percent to US$251.7 billion for the month, the lowest level in more than two years, as Americans purchased fewer mobile phones, artwork, civilian aircraft and computers.
CANADA
November deficit hits low
The nation posted a C$1.1 billion (US$847.1 million) trade deficit in November last year, down sharply from the previous month amid disruptions caused by a railroad strike, Statistics Canada said on Tuesday. Exports fell 1.4 percent to C$48.7 billion, the lowest level for November since 2013, while imports slid 2.4 percent to C$49.8 billion. Meanwhile, the trade deficit for October was revised upward to C$1.6 billion, from a previous estimate of C$1.1 billion.
GERMANY
Industrial orders decline
New orders for industrial firms fell in November last year, official data showed on Monday, continuing a run of weak data for Europe’s powerhouse. Fresh contracts fell 1.3 percent month-on-month, the Federal Statistical Office said in seasonally adjusted figures, the second monthly slip in a row and short of analysts’ expectations for slight growth. Excluding volatile large orders for items such as aircraft, the picture was slightly rosier, showing a 1 percent increase in business, but in a year-on-year comparison, new orders were down 6.5 percent from a year earlier, the data showed.
AIRLINES
United takes US$90m HK hit
United Airlines Holdings Inc on Tuesday said that it would take a US$90 million charge against fourth-quarter earnings because of a drop in value of its routes to Hong Kong, which has been affected by months of pro-democracy protests. United said that lower demand for travel to Hong Kong reduced its revenue for each seat flown per mile, a measure that airline investors watch closely. That led to its calculation of the noncash impairment charge, it said. The grounding of Boeing Co’s 737 MAX has also hurt United, causing it to cancel thousands of flights.
ARGENTINA
S&P corrects debt grade
S&P Global Ratings on Tuesday raised its debt grade for the country, acknowledging that it made a mistake when it changed the rating late last month. S&P bumped the rating on foreign long-term debt from “CC” to “CCC-,” taking it up two notches from “SD” and back to where it was prior to Dec. 20, when the country was declared in default. However, the credit outlook remains “negative,” it said.
CONSULTING
Accenture to buy unit
Consulting giant Accenture PLC has agreed to buy a cybersecurity services business from Broadcom Inc that had been part of Symantec’s enterprise division. Accenture is buying the unit, which has 300 employees, for an undisclosed sum. The deal is expected to close in March, the firm said in a statement. Broadcom acquired the unit as part of its US$10.7 billion deal to buy Symantec’s enterprise software division last year.
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: The US company could switch orders from TSMC to alternative suppliers, but that would lower chip quality, CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), whose products have become the hottest commodity in the technology world, on Wednesday said that the scramble for a limited amount of supply has frustrated some customers and raised tensions. “The demand on it is so great, and everyone wants to be first and everyone wants to be most,” he told the audience at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc technology conference in San Francisco. “We probably have more emotional customers today. Deservedly so. It’s tense. We’re trying to do the best we can.” Huang’s company is experiencing strong demand for its latest generation of chips, called
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure