■EUROPE
PMI slips in eurozone
Heavy snow and bitter cold across the eurozone this month stunted growth in private sector business activity, for the first time in 11 months, a well-watched survey said yesterday. The purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for the 16 countries using the single currency, compiled by data and research group Markit, slipped to 53.6 points from 54.2 points last month, signaling weakened expansion. Growth was strongest in manufacturing, with its sixth monthly increase in a row, but the rate of growth in the services sector slowed for the first time after five consecutive months of expansion, albeit still above the boom-and-bust 50-point line.
■SOUTH KOREA
Jobs target increases
South Korea said yesterday it aims to create more than 250,000 new jobs this year because the employment market remains fragile despite a growing economic recovery. The figure is higher than an earlier target of 200,000, the government said in a statement after a meeting of economy-related ministries. About 890,000 people were officially listed as jobless at the end of last year. However, the government estimates the actual number at 1.82 million, including people with only temporary jobs and others who are not actively looking for work.
■BANKING
BoA posts US$194m loss
Bank of America (BoA), the largest US bank by assets, posted a loss of US$194 million in the fourth quarter of last year, but repayments of government aid boosted the loss for shareholders to US$5.2 billion. For all of last year, the bank listed a profit of US$6.3 billion, but for shareholders the results were a loss of US$2.2 billion. Morgan Stanley meanwhile reported a profit of US$617 million in the fourth quarter. For all of last year, the bank said profit was US$1.346 billion, but shareholders suffered a loss of US$907 million. Wells Fargo, posted net income of US$2.82 billion in the fourth quarter. For the full year, it had net profit of US$7.99 billion.
■EXCHANGES
LSE posts 9% revenue drop
Equities market operator the London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) yesterday reported a 9 percent fall in quarterly revenues owing to a drop in transactions amid increased competition. The LSE, which operates the London Stock Exchange and Italy’s Borsa Italiana, said total group revenue fell to £154.9 million (US$251 million) in the three months to Dec. 31 — the company’s third quarter — compared to a year earlier. “Market conditions have not been easy in the last quarter, particularly in cash equities, though the group has benefited from the breadth of its activities,” LSE chief executive Xavier Rolet said in a trading update.
■SOUTH KOREA
Hynix swings to profit
South Korea’s Hynix Semiconductor said yesterday it swung to a net profit in the fourth quarter, following a loss in the period the year earlier, in a further sign that the global chip industry is recovering from a two-year slump. Hynix, the world’s second-largest memory chip maker, reported net profit of 657 billion won (US$577 million) in the October-to-December period, against a net loss of 1.69 trillion won in the fourth quarter of 2008. It was the second straight quarter of net profits after losses for seven consecutive quarters.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique