US TREASURIES
China bond holdings drop
China’s holdings of US government debt declined in November last year for a third straight month, reaching the lowest level since January 2013, as Japan’s jumped to a record. China, the largest foreign holder of US Treasuries, had US$1.25 trillion as of November last, US$2.3 billion less than a month earlier, according to US Department of the Treasury data released on Friday in Washington. Japan, the second-biggest, moved to within US$8.9 billion of China’s lead, increasing its ownership by US$19.1 billion to US$1.24 trillion.
RUSSIA
Moody’s cuts bonds rating
Moody’s Investors Service has cut its rating on Russian government bonds one step closer to “junk” status, as the country’s economy worsens under the twin pressures of Western sanctions and declining oil prices. The ruble has lost about half its value against the US dollar since early last year. Moody’s on Friday lowered the rating one notch to “Baa3,” the lowest investment-grade level. The firm says it’s reviewing whether to lower the rating further.
GREECE
Fitch lowers credit outlook
Rating firm Fitch on Friday lowered Greece’s credit outlook to negative from stable, citing rising political uncertainty, but kept the country’s credit rating unchanged at “B,” indicating highly speculative. “The current period of political uncertainty has increased the risks to Greece’s creditworthiness as official financing, and any potential reopening of market access, could be delayed for some months. Early elections to be held on Jan. 25 have made the direction of Greek policymaking more uncertain,” Fitch said in a statement.
PHARMACEUTICALS
Novartis to close plant
Novartis AG is closing its manufacturing plant in Puerto Rico as part of a major overhaul of its business. The Switzerland-based company said in a statement on Friday that the shutdown of its Humacao plant will conclude in early 2019. About 270 employees will be laid off. Novartis says it will transfer some manufacturing and packaging operations to companies including Eli Lilly & Co. Some operations will be transferred to Novartis’ manufacturing plant in Lincoln, Nebraska.
AVIATION
Singapore Air cuts off pilots
Singapore Airlines Ltd said on Friday it will no longer rehire captains beyond the normal retirement age of 62, in fresh cost-cutting measures as competition from rivals hits profits. Previously, pilots with the rank of captain were allowed to fly beyond 62 under a re-employment contract renewable each year until the age of 64. First officers have not been offered re-employment beyond age 62 since January 2013.
TELECOMS
Arroyo set to lead Iusacell
AT&T said on Friday it had appointed company veteran F. Thaddeus Arroyo as the chief executive of Iusacell, Mexico’s No. 3 wireless carrier, which it recently bought. Arroyo, who the company said has been with AT&T for 19 years, was previously president of the technology department and before that served as chief information officer. AT&T agreed to buy Mexico’s Iusacell for US$1.7 billion in November last year.
Taiwan’s foreign exchange reserves fell below the US$600 billion mark at the end of last month, with the central bank reporting a total of US$596.89 billion — a decline of US$8.6 billion from February — ending a three-month streak of increases. The central bank attributed the drop to a combination of factors such as outflows by foreign institutional investors, currency fluctuations and its own market interventions. “The large-scale outflows disrupted the balance of supply and demand in the foreign exchange market, prompting the central bank to intervene repeatedly by selling US dollars to stabilize the local currency,” Department of Foreign
Intel Corp is joining Elon Musk’s long-shot effort to develop semiconductors for Tesla Inc, Space Exploration Technologies Corp and xAI, marking a surprising twist in the chipmaker’s comeback bid. Intel would help the Terafab project “refactor” the technology in a chip factory, the company said on Tuesday in a post on X, Musk’s social media platform. That is a stage in the development process that typically helps make chips more powerful or reliable. The chipmaker’s shares jumped 4.2 percent to US$52.91 in New York trading on Tuesday. The Terafab project is a grand plan by Musk to eventually manufacture his own chips for
Taiwan Power Co (Taipower, 台電) yesterday said it plans to resume operations at two coal-fired power generators for three months to boost security of electricity supply as liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply risks are running high due to the Middle East conflict. The two coal-fired power generators are at Mailiao Power Plant in Yunlin County’s Mailiao Township (麥寮). The plant, operated by Formosa Plastics Group (台塑集團), supplied electricity to Taipower’s power grid until the end of last year. Taipower’s decision came about one month after Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) on March 10 said that the nation had no imminent
Some robotaxi passengers were left stranded in the middle of fast-moving traffic in a major Chinese city after their driverless vehicles stopped running, according to police and media reports on Wednesday. A preliminary investigation indicates more than 100 robotaxis came to a halt because of a “system malfunction,” police in the city of Wuhan said in a statement, without elaborating. No injuries were reported. One passenger told Chinese media that their robotaxi stopped after turning a corner. An instruction on a screen read: “Driving system malfunction. Staff are expected to arrive in 5 minutes.” After no one showed up, the passenger pushed
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