SPAIN
Economy grows 1.4 percent
The nation’s recovering economy grew by 1.4 percent last year, provisional official data showed yesterday, after shrinking by 1.2 percent in the previous year, but remains plagued by mass unemployment. It is the first time there has been full-year economic growth since 2008, when a labor-intensive property bubble collapsed, pushing millions of people out of work. Growth accelerated in the fourth quarter to 0.7 percent from 0.5 percent in the third quarter, according to provisional figures from the National Statistics Office. The provisional figures are in line with the conservative government’s estimate for economic growth last year. The government predicts the economy, the eurozone’s fourth-largest, will expand by 2 percent this year. Minister of Economic Affairs and Competitiveness Luis de Guindos on Monday said the economy could grow by as much as 2.5 percent this year if oil prices and the euro stay low.
AVIATION
Qatar buys stake in IAG
Qatar Airways Ltd bought a 9.99 percent stake in British Airways PLC parent IAG SA, anchoring itself to its main European ally in a partnership that promises better access to the Americas and traffic flows through its Persian Gulf hub. The carrier from the Middle East might consider increasing its stake further over time, Qatar said in a statement yesterday. Qatar is limited to a 49 percent stake in a European carrier, and the airline said it wants to stick to its current holding for now. The surprise purchase of a stake comes as IAG itself seeks to purchase an airline, with its preliminary bid for Ireland’s Aer Lingus PLC valued at about US$1.52 billion.
FOREIGN EXCHANGE
Singapore charges traders
Two former foreign exchange traders from HSBC Holdings PLC and Deutsche Bank AG were charged in Singapore for allegedly cheating their employers by making false trades. The two men, in unrelated cases, bought and sold about US$1.1 billion in US dollars in November 2009 using the banks’ accounts to get preferential rates for themselves, according to charge sheets filed on Thursday with a Singapore state court. They allegedly made wrongful gains of about S$370,000 (US$295,928). Former HSBC senior dealer Ivan Chng, 46, faces 149 charges for about US$870 million of trades to facilitate transactions in his wife’s accounts. He allegedly made a wrongful gain of around S$230,000. Toh Hway Khuan, 49, was charged with 39 counts and made almost US$300 million in US dollar trades. The former Deutsche Bank spot trader is accused of unlawfully making about S$140,000. Each charge carries a maximum seven-year jail term and a fine of as much as S$250,000.
AUTOMAKERS
Ford net income nosedives
After several years as the leader in profits and performance among US automakers, the Ford Motor Co, hit a speed bump last year. Ford said on Thursday that its net income for the year plummeted 56 percent from the previous year, primarily because of higher costs, lower volumes and a series of surprising setbacks. For the year, Ford said it earned US$3.19 billion, down from US$7.18 billion in net income during 2013, and its global revenue fell 2 percent from the year before. The fourth quarter was particularly challenging for Ford, which ranks second in revenue behind General Motors Co among US carmakers. Its net income was US$52 million, a sharp decrease from the US$3.07 billion it earned in the year-ago period.
‘SWASTICAR’: Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s close association with Donald Trump has prompted opponents to brand him a ‘Nazi’ and resulted in a dramatic drop in sales Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump. Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism. Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan. Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his
ADVERSARIES: The new list includes 11 entities in China and one in Taiwan, which is a local branch of Chinese cloud computing firm Inspur Group The US added dozens of entities to a trade blacklist on Tuesday, the US Department of Commerce said, in part to disrupt Beijing’s artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced computing capabilities. The action affects 80 entities from countries including China, the United Arab Emirates and Iran, with the commerce department citing their “activities contrary to US national security and foreign policy.” Those added to the “entity list” are restricted from obtaining US items and technologies without government authorization. “We will not allow adversaries to exploit American technology to bolster their own militaries and threaten American lives,” US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said. The entities
Taiwan’s official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) last month rose 0.2 percentage points to 54.2, in a second consecutive month of expansion, thanks to front-loading demand intended to avoid potential US tariff hikes, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. While short-term demand appeared robust, uncertainties rose due to US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable trade policy, CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy this year would be characterized by high-level fluctuations and the volatility would be wilder than most expect, Lien said Demand for electronics, particularly semiconductors, continues to benefit from US technology giants’ effort
Minister of Finance Chuang Tsui-yun (莊翠雲) yesterday told lawmakers that she “would not speculate,” but a “response plan” has been prepared in case Taiwan is targeted by US President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs, which are to be announced on Wednesday next week. The Trump administration, including US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent, has said that much of the proposed reciprocal tariffs would focus on the 15 countries that have the highest trade surpluses with the US. Bessent has referred to those countries as the “dirty 15,” but has not named them. Last year, Taiwan’s US$73.9 billion trade surplus with the US
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