■ ECONOMY
Hu welcomes US plan
Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) told his US counterpart George W. Bush yesterday that China welcomed Washington’s efforts to stabilize US financial markets and hoped they succeed, state media reported. Hu, who received a phone call from Bush, also said a US economic recovery would be good for China, state TV said. “We have noticed the important measures adopted by the United States to stabilize its financial markets and we hope these measures will have an impact soon and lead to an improvement and recovery of the US economy,” Hu was quoted as telling Bush. “This is in line with US interests, and it’s also in line with Chinese interests,” Hu said.
■ EQUITIES
S&P 500 could rally: broker
The S&P 500 could rally to between 1,300 and 1,350 following the government bailout, Credit Suisse Group AG strategists wrote in a research note on Friday. Other positive factors for global equities include the fall in the oil price and China’s monetary easing, the team wrote. “Structural problems remain. We believe the S&P 500 is capped at 1,350,” Credit Suisse said. “Hence, the market is ‘range bound’ as opposed to being in a ‘bull’ market.”
■ BANKING
DB gets stake in Postbank
The biggest German bank, Deutsche Bank (DB), said yesterday it will issue up to 40 million new shares to pay for its purchase of a stake in Postbank. Deutsche Bank said it would raise around 2 billion euros (US$2.9 billion) from the transaction, allowing it to maintain a “strong equity capitalization” even after paying 2.8 billion euros for 29.75 percent of Postbank. Details on the operation’s timing were not provided, but Deutsche Bank said it would sell the shares quickly and directly to institutional investors. “There will be no public offering,” a statement said. Deutsche Bank has an option to purchase another 18 percent of the shares in Postbank, but if the stake surpasses 30 percent, Deutsche Bank will be obliged to make an offer for all remaining shares listed on Germany’s DAX 30 index.
■ BEVERAGES
PepsiCo invests in India
US soft drinks giant PepsiCo Sunday announced plans to invest US$500 million in India over the next three years, a report said on Sunday. The fresh injection of funds is expected to generate tens of thousands of new jobs in India, the Press Trust of India news agency reported, quoting chief executive Indra Nooyi. “As a tangible sign of our continued confidence in India, I am delighted to announce that we will be investing US$500 million in the next three years with the goal of tripling our business here,” Nooyi was quoted as telling reporters in New Delhi. The investment would be spent on increasing manufacturing capacity and market infrastructure as well as research, product development and agriculture, the report said.
■ ENERGY
SK Energy eyes batteries
SK Energy Co, South Korea’s biggest oil refiner, is in talks with automakers to jointly develop batteries that will power gasoline-electric hybrid cars. “We’re tapping various opportunities with a number of automakers, but nothing has been decided,” Kim Woo-kyung, a spokeswoman at the Seoul-based company, said in response to a report by the Korea Economic Daily. SK Energy and Daimler AG may jointly develop lithium-ion polymer batteries for hybrid cars, the Korean-language newspaper reported today, citing company president Koo Ja-young.
The paramount chief of a volcanic island in Vanuatu yesterday said that he was “very impressed” by a UN court’s declaration that countries must tackle climate change. Vanuatu spearheaded the legal case at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, which on Wednesday ruled that countries have a duty to protect against the threat of a warming planet. “I’m very impressed,” George Bumseng, the top chief of the Pacific archipelago’s island of Ambrym, told reporters in the capital, Port Vila. “We have been waiting for this decision for a long time because we have been victims of this climate change for
Rainfall is expected to become more widespread and persistent across central and southern Taiwan over the next few days, with the effects of the weather patterns becoming most prominent between last night and tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Independent meteorologist Daniel Wu (吳德榮) said that based on the latest forecast models of the combination of a low-pressure system and southwesterly winds, rainfall and flooding are expected to continue in central and southern Taiwan from today to Sunday. The CWA also warned of flash floods, thunder and lightning, and strong gusts in these areas, as well as landslides and fallen
MASSIVE LOSS: If the next recall votes also fail, it would signal that the administration of President William Lai would continue to face strong resistance within the legislature The results of recall votes yesterday dealt a blow to the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) efforts to overturn the opposition-controlled legislature, as all 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers survived the recall bids. Backed by President William Lai’s (賴清德) DPP, civic groups led the recall drive, seeking to remove 31 out of 39 KMT lawmakers from the 113-seat legislature, in which the KMT and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) together hold a majority with 62 seats, while the DPP holds 51 seats. The scale of the recall elections was unprecedented, with another seven KMT lawmakers facing similar votes on Aug. 23. For a
All 24 lawmakers of the main opposition Chinese Nationalists Party (KMT) on Saturday survived historical nationwide recall elections, ensuring that the KMT along with Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) lawmakers will maintain opposition control of the legislature. Recall votes against all 24 KMT lawmakers as well as Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安) and KMT legislative caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁) failed to pass, according to Central Election Commission (CEC) figures. In only six of the 24 recall votes did the ballots cast in favor of the recall even meet the threshold of 25 percent of eligible voters needed for the recall to pass,
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