Morgan Stanley became the next great Wall Street name in peril on Thursday with reports it was in talks to be bought by US Wachovia Corporation or a Chinese bank, as HBOS bank was bailed out in London.
With the flames of financial crisis outrunning renewed central bank intervention and the nationalization of US insurance titan American International Group (AIG), US media reports meanwhile said Morgan Stanley was looking for help.
The New York Times reported that Morgan Stanley, one of the last two independent US-based investment banks, was in talks to merge with Wachovia Corporation. Separately, CNBC business network said that the bank was in talks to be bought by the Chinese bank CITIC (中國國際信託投資).
Fears mounted that the US Federal Reserve’s US$85 billion loan to rescue AIG might not be sufficient to reverse a rout on financial markets.
The White House said on Wednesday that recent US economic news painted a “very mixed picture” but added that the US had “the strength” to overcome the financial crisis.
The latest US drama was unfolding against a background of plummeting global stocks and yields, or interest rates, on US Treasury bonds as investors rushed for the safety of government debt instruments.
Aaron Smith at Economy.com called the action “an unprecedented flight to quality,” adding: “Investor concern is also growing about the Fed’s ability to support markets in the future as the central bank’s own balance sheet is reduced.”
Asian stocks plunged further yesterday, tracking declines on Wall Street as investors feared more companies could succumb to the financial crisis.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index, which sank more than 7 percent at one point, was down 2.5 percent at 17,185.64 in late afternoon trading. Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index slid 2.2 percent to 11,489.30, a three-year low.
“It’s a complete collapse of confidence,” said Francis Lun (藺常念), general manager of Fulbright Securities Ltd (富昌證券) in Hong Kong. “The financial crisis in the US is hitting everyone; everyone is running for cover. If the largest insurance company can fail, than no one is safe.”
Russia’s main stock exchanges were mostly closed yesterday, a day after regulators suspended trading amid a plummet in share prices. The MICEX resumed limited trading; it wasn’t immediately clear when the RTS would reopen.
In other markets, Australia’s S&P/ASX200 index fell 2.4 percent, South Korea’s Kospi lost 2.3 percent, India’s Sensex lost around 4 percent and China’s Shanghai benchmark dropped 2.2 percent.
The losses tracked US markets, where the Dow Jones industrial average fell about 450 points on Wednesday, or 4.06 percent, to 10,609.66.
As equities markets staggered, investors fled to gold, seen as a safe haven in times of trouble. Gold for December delivery rose as much as US$90.40, or 11.6 percent, to US$870.90 an ounce in after-hours trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange after jumping US$70 to settle at US$850.50 in the regular session.
Oil rose above US$97 in Asian trade yesterday, extending its big gains overnight. The dollar was slightly higher at ¥105.13 and the euro rose to US$1.4328.
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
IMPORTANT BACKER: China seeks to expel US influence from the Indo-Pacific region and supplant Washington as the global leader, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said China is preparing for war to seize Taiwan, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said in Washington on Friday, warning that Taiwan’s fall would trigger a regional “domino effect” endangering US security. In a speech titled “Maintaining the Peaceful and Stable Status Quo Across the Taiwan Strait is in Line with the Shared Interests of Taiwan and the United States,” Chiu said Taiwan’s strategic importance is “closely tied” to US interests. Geopolitically, Taiwan sits in a “core position” in the first island chain — an arc stretching from Japan, through Taiwan and the Philippines, to Borneo, which is shared by
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