AUSTRALIA
Interest rates stay put
The Reserve Bank of Australia yesterday kept interest rates at a record low 2.5 percent, maintaining an unchanged outlook for the nation’s economy as it continued to call for a weaker currency. The central bank has kept the cash rate steady since August last year and since February has flagged a “period of stability” in monetary policy as the economy transitions away from mining-led growth.
SOUTH KOREA
Consumer prices rise 1.2%
Consumer prices inched up 1.2 percent last month from a year ago, state data showed yesterday, on the back of increased costs for clothing and utilities. The increase compared with 1.1 percent growth in September, the slowest pace for seven months, state-run Statistics Korea said. The core consumer price index, which excludes volatile energy and food prices, rose 1.8 percent year-on-year, slowing from 1.9 percent growth in September.
BRAZIL
Trade deficit at US$1.18bn
The nation on Monday posted a US$1.18 billion trade deficit for last month, its second straight monthly deficit and the worst October figure in 16 years as Latin America’s biggest economy heads for almost zero growth this year. Official government data showed the loss following on from a US$939 million deficit in September as Secretary for Trade Daniel Godinho blamed the figures largely on a 40 percent fall in iron ore prices and sluggish auto sales, notably in Argentina. The nation’s cumulative deficit for the year to date is US$1.87 billion, compared with a surplus of US$2.56 billion last year.
AUTOMAKERS
US sales strongest in decade
Automakers on Monday reported their strongest October sales in the US in a decade on strong demand for brawny pickup trucks and roomy SUVs, but top-seller General Motors Co missed expectations. The results, often an early snapshot of US consumer spending, continued the strong run for a sector that has outraced the broader economy since 2010. Last month’s US sales increased 6.1 percent to 1.28 million vehicles, slightly higher than analysts’ expectations, according to Autodata Corp. On a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, sales for the month were 16.46 million vehicles.
TRADE
Bio-Rad to pay penalty
Bio-Rad Technology, the maker of hospital diagnostic machinery, agreed on Monday to pay US$55 million to settle charges it bribed officials in Russia, Vietnam and Thailand to gain business. In a deal with the US Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission, the company avoided criminal prosecution under the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act by cooperating in the probe. The department and the commission said that a French subsidiary, Bio-Rad SNC, made ostensible commission payments to Russian business agents that ultimately were meant for bribes to win contracts with the Russian Health Ministry.
UNITED STATES
Good holiday forecast
Consumers are likely to spend US$89 billion shopping online during the holiday season, a healthy rise despite fewer selling days, Forrester Research analysts said on Monday. The rise for this year is expected to be 13 percent, despite a late Thanksgiving, which shortens the traditional gift-giving season, Forrester analysts said.
To many, Tatu City on the outskirts of Nairobi looks like a success. The first city entirely built by a private company to be operational in east Africa, with about 25,000 people living and working there, it accounts for about two-thirds of all foreign investment in Kenya. Its low-tax status has attracted more than 100 businesses including Heineken, coffee brand Dormans, and the biggest call-center and cold-chain transport firms in the region. However, to some local politicians, Tatu City has looked more like a target for extortion. A parade of governors have demanded land worth millions of dollars in exchange
An Indonesian animated movie is smashing regional box office records and could be set for wider success as it prepares to open beyond the Southeast Asian archipelago’s silver screens. Jumbo — a film based on the adventures of main character, Don, a large orphaned Indonesian boy facing bullying at school — last month became the highest-grossing Southeast Asian animated film, raking in more than US$8 million. Released at the end of March to coincide with the Eid holidays after the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, the movie has hit 8 million ticket sales, the third-highest in Indonesian cinema history, Film
BIG BUCKS: Chairman Wei is expected to receive NT$34.12 million on a proposed NT$5 cash dividend plan, while the National Development Fund would get NT$8.27 billion Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday announced that its board of directors approved US$15.25 billion in capital appropriations for long-term expansion to meet growing demand. The funds are to be used for installing advanced technology and packaging capacity, expanding mature and specialty technology, and constructing fabs with facility systems, TSMC said in a statement. The board also approved a proposal to distribute a NT$5 cash dividend per share, based on first-quarter earnings per share of NT$13.94, it said. That surpasses the NT$4.50 dividend for the fourth quarter of last year. TSMC has said that while it is eager
‘IMMENSE SWAY’: The top 50 companies, based on market cap, shape everything from technology to consumer trends, advisory firm Visual Capitalist said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) was ranked the 10th-most valuable company globally this year, market information advisory firm Visual Capitalist said. TSMC sat on a market cap of about US$915 billion as of Monday last week, making it the 10th-most valuable company in the world and No. 1 in Asia, the publisher said in its “50 Most Valuable Companies in the World” list. Visual Capitalist described TSMC as the world’s largest dedicated semiconductor foundry operator that rolls out chips for major tech names such as US consumer electronics brand Apple Inc, and artificial intelligence (AI) chip designers Nvidia Corp and Advanced
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