SOLAR ENERGY
Chinese firms face EU duty
The EU on Friday will impose anti-dumping measures on some Chinese solar panels whose manufacturers rejected rejected a deal to diffuse a brewing trade war. The measures will apply for two years, the EU Commission said. “The final anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duty rates will apply only to those exports from China which do not meet the conditions set out in the undertaking,” the commission said in a statement. China and the EU in July reached an amicable settlement under which Chinese exporters agreed to a minimum price to provide a floor to the market up to a certain threshold of imports, after which anti-dumping tariffs apply.
BANKING
Glitches disrupt RBS
RBS and its retail banking unit Netwest’s online systems and debit cards failed on Monday evening as clients were unable to process payments on one of the busiest online shopping days, “Cyber Monday.” Millions of customers across the UK were unable to withdraw cash, pay for goods or use telephone and online banking services. In its response, the bank’s twitter account, RBS Help tweeted: “We are aware of some technical issues and are working hard to fix them. Sorry and thanks for your patience.” The bank’s Irish unit, Ulster Bank, also reportedly faced similar glitches.
BANKING
Fed approves revised plans
The US Federal Reserve on Monday said it had passed the revised capital plans of JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs, eight months after sending them back due to weaknesses. In its March stress tests of the top US banks, the Fed had raised questions about how the two planned to allocate capital, which includes their programs for dividends and share buybacks to reward investors. Both JPMorgan and Goldman received only conditional approvals, and were required to submit new plans by the end of the third quarter “to address weaknesses in their capital planning processes.” In a brief statement, the Fed said it “has not objected.”
BRAZIL
Q3 growth rises 2.5%
The economy grew 2.5 percent in the third quarter compared with the same period of last year, Minister of Finance Guido Mantega told a business seminar on Monday. Official GDP growth figures were scheduled to be released yesterday by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics. Mantega also projected that GDP would grow on average 4 percent a year from next year to 2022.
UNITED STATES
Manufacturing jumps
Manufacturing grew last month at the fastest pace in two-and-a-half years as factories ramped up production, stepped up hiring and received orders at a healthy clip. The Institute for Supply Management said on Monday that its index of manufacturing activity rose to 57.3. That was up from 56.4 in October and was the highest since April 2011. A reading above 50 signals growth.
INTERNET
Google cuts cloud prices
Google Inc lowered prices for some of its cloud computing service for businesses and added features as it steps up competition with Amazon.com Inc and Microsoft Corp. The service, which lets customers purchase access to its computing power, is cutting prices for some of the most popular options by 10 percent, Google said in a blog posting. It is also adding broader support for customers during maintenance.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, booked its first-ever profit from its Arizona subsidiary in the first half of this year, four years after operations began, a company financial statement showed. Wholly owned by TSMC, the Arizona unit contributed NT$4.52 billion (US$150.1 million) in net profit, compared with a loss of NT$4.34 billion a year earlier, the statement showed. The company attributed the turnaround to strong market demand and high factory utilization. The Arizona unit counts Apple Inc, Nvidia Corp and Advanced Micro Devices Inc among its major customers. The firm’s first fab in Arizona began high-volume production
VOTE OF CONFIDENCE: The Japanese company is adding Intel to an investment portfolio that includes artificial intelligence linchpins Nvidia Corp and TSMC Softbank Group Corp agreed to buy US$2 billion of Intel Corp stock, a surprise deal to shore up a struggling US name while boosting its own chip ambitions. The Japanese company, which is adding Intel to an investment portfolio that includes artificial intelligence (AI) linchpins Nvidia Corp and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), is to pay US$23 a share — a small discount to Intel’s last close. Shares of the US chipmaker, which would issue new stock to Softbank, surged more than 5 percent in after-hours trading. Softbank’s stock fell as much as 5.4 percent on Tuesday in Tokyo, its
The prices of gasoline and diesel at domestic fuel stations are to rise NT$0.1 and NT$0.4 per liter this week respectively, after international crude oil prices rose last week, CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) and Formosa Petrochemical Corp (台塑石化) announced yesterday. Effective today, gasoline prices at CPC and Formosa stations are to rise to NT$27.3, NT$28.8 and NT$30.8 per liter for 92, 95 and 98-octane unleaded gasoline respectively, the companies said in separate statements. The price of premium diesel is to rise to NT$26.2 per liter at CPC stations and NT$26 at Formosa pumps, they said. The announcements came after international crude oil prices
SETBACK: Apple’s India iPhone push has been disrupted after Foxconn recalled hundreds of Chinese engineers, amid Beijing’s attempts to curb tech transfers Apple Inc assembly partner Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), also known internationally as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), has recalled about 300 Chinese engineers from a factory in India, the latest setback for the iPhone maker’s push to rapidly expand in the country. The extraction of Chinese workers from the factory of Yuzhan Technology (India) Private Ltd, a Hon Hai component unit, in southern Tamil Nadu state, is the second such move in a few months. The company has started flying in Taiwanese engineers to replace staff leaving, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be named, as the
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