CURRENCIES
Yuan will rise 5%: paper
Beijing will let the yuan rise about 5 percent against the US dollar this year to combat inflation, an official newspaper said yesterday, while a former central bank adviser said the country needs to free up the currency. However, a Chinese commerce ministry official warned that any appreciation would do little to narrow China’s trade surplus with the US, a constant irritant in the relationship between the world’s two largest economies. The yuan’s gains would be particularly strong in the first half of this year, the China Securities Journal said in a front-page editorial. China let the yuan rise 3.6 percent last year.
ELECTRONICS
Toshiba retires 3D glasses
Toshiba Corp plans to sell the world’s first large-sized 3D televisions that don’t require viewers to wear special glasses, an advance which may aid the popularity of a technology that’s been slow to catch on. In the fiscal year starting in April, the Tokyo-based company will introduce 3D TVs 40 inches and larger that do away with the need for the glasses, vice president Atsushi Murasawa said at a briefing yesterday at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The sets will be introduced in Japan, North America and Europe, he said.
UNITED STATES
Fed eyes EU debt crisis
The Federal Reserve is watching Europe’s debt and banking problems to see if they worsen and cause knock-on damage to the US economic recovery, according to the minutes of the last policy-setting meeting. At the Dec. 14 meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee, participants viewed the US economy as sluggish despite a series of positive economic news since the prior meeting. Committee members said that the overall outlook was “a gradual pickup in growth with slow progress toward maximum employment,” the minutes said.
RETAIL
UK reports sales drop
Two of Britain’s biggest retailers reported a drop in sales in the run-up to Christmas, adding to signs that bad weather compounded a tough environment for consumers during the biggest spending period of the year. Next, which is Britain’s No. 2 fashion chain behind Marks & Spencer, said yesterday sales at shops open at least a year fell 6.1 percent from Aug. 1 to Dec. 24. Music, books, DVDs and games retailer HMV Group said full-year profit would be around the lower end of forecasts and that meeting a test of its lending rules in April would be tight. The updates, the first by major retailers following the key Christmas trading period, will add to fears that severe winter weather deterred shoppers already worried about rising taxes and public spending cuts.
PETROCHEMICALS
Chinese firm, Repsol in talks
Sinopec (中國石化) and Repsol YPF SA, Spain’s largest oil company, are in talks on joint ventures around the world after the Chinese refiner invested US$7.1 billion in a Repsol unit in Latin America last year. The companies agreed to set up working groups to examine new business opportunities following the acquisition of a 40 percent stake in Repsol’s Brazilian unit by Sinopec Group, the Madrid-based oil producer said in a statement on Tuesday. “There are significant synergies between Repsol and Sinopec, and the relationship between both companies is ideal to continue reinforcing our alliance worldwide in new business areas,” Repsol chairman Antonio Brufau said in the statement, without elaborating.
PROTECTIONISM: China hopes to help domestic chipmakers gain more market share while preparing local tech companies for the possibility of more US sanctions Beijing is stepping up pressure on Chinese companies to buy locally produced artificial intelligence (AI) chips instead of Nvidia Corp products, part of the nation’s effort to expand its semiconductor industry and counter US sanctions. Chinese regulators have been discouraging companies from purchasing Nvidia’s H20 chips, which are used to develop and run AI models, sources familiar with the matter said. The policy has taken the form of guidance rather than an outright ban, as Beijing wants to avoid handicapping its own AI start-ups and escalating tensions with the US, said the sources, who asked not to be identified because the
Taipei is today suspending its US$2.5 trillion stock market as Super Typhoon Krathon approaches Taiwan with strong winds and heavy rain. The nation is not conducting securities, currency or fixed-income trading, statements from its stock and currency exchanges said. Yesterday, schools and offices were closed in several cities and counties in southern and eastern Taiwan, including in the key industrial port city of Kaohsiung. Taiwan, which started canceling flights, ship sailings and some train services earlier this week, has wind and rain advisories in place for much of the island. It regularly experiences typhoons, and in July shut offices and schools as
FALLING BEHIND: Samsung shares have declined more than 20 percent this year, as the world’s largest chipmaker struggles in key markets and plays catch-up to rival SK Hynix Samsung Electronics Co is laying off workers in Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand as part of a plan to reduce its global headcount by thousands of jobs, sources familiar with the situation said. The layoffs could affect about 10 percent of its workforces in those markets, although the numbers for each subsidiary might vary, said one of the sources, who asked not to be named because the matter is private. Job cuts are planned for other overseas subsidiaries and could reach 10 percent in certain markets, the source said. The South Korean company has about 147,000 in staff overseas, more than half
Her white-gloved, waistcoated uniform impeccable, 22-year-old Hazuki Okuno boards a bullet train replica to rehearse the strict protocols behind the smooth operation of a Japanese institution turning 60 Tuesday. High-speed Shinkansen trains began running between Tokyo and Osaka on Oct. 1, 1964, heralding a new era for rail travel as Japan grew into an economic superpower after World War II. The service remains integral to the nation’s economy and way of life — so keeping it dazzlingly clean, punctual and accident-free is a serious job. At a 10-story, state-of-the-art staff training center, Okuno shouted from the window and signaled to imaginary colleagues, keeping
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