MACROECONOMICS
US trade deficit surprises
The US trade deficit grew more than expected in January as exports slumped, outpacing the fall in imports amid a slowing global economy, US Department of Commerce data released on Friday showed. The trade gap increased 2.2 percent to US$45.7 billion in January, the largest shortfall in five months and well above the analyst estimate of US$44 billion, data showed. Exports of goods and services fell 2.1 percent to US$176.5 billion, the lowest level since June 2011, while imports fell 1.3 percent to US$222.1 billion, their lowest since April 2011, data showed.
SOVEREIGN DEBT
Moody’s puts Gulf on watch
Moody’s has lowered its credit ratings for Oman and Bahrain and placed the remaining Gulf oil exporters on review for downgrade, saying low crude prices have weakened their economies. The cut was made to “reflect the impact of the continued large fall in oil prices,” the ratings agency said on Friday. The review covers OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia, whose rating Standard and Poor’s cut two notches to “A-” last month, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Qatar.
HUMAN RESOURCES
India protests US rules
New Delhi on Friday filed a complaint with the WTO over steep fee increases for US non-immigrant temporary work visas. The WTO said in a statement that India has disputed the doubling of the fees for H-1B and L-1 work visas and limits on their numbers. In its filing, India said the new visa measures seemed inconsistent with the WTO commitments the US had made, because the moves treat Indian information technology workers in the US less favorably than their US counterparts.
BANKING
Barclays Asian arm eyed
Nomura Holdings Inc and United Overseas Bank Ltd are among the banks considering bids for Barclays PLC’s Singapore and Hong Kong private-wealth business, according to people familiar with the matter. Second-round bids for the British lender’s unit are due by the middle of this month, after interested firms submitted non-binding bids earlier this year, the people said. DBS Group Holdings Ltd and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp are also weighing offers, the people said. Barclays’ sale of the unit could fetch as much as US$400 million, they said.
MOBILE PAYMENTS
Monitise to sell Markco
Mobile payment processor Monitise PLC on Friday said it was in early talks to potentially sell its marketing content business, Markco Media, in a bid to transition to cloud-based services. Shares in Monitise rose as much as 48 percent, making it the top percentage gainer on the London Stock Exchange.
TECHNOLOGY
Hewlett Packard profits rise
Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co on Friday reported solid earnings in its first quarter as an independent company, showing the new company can increase revenue and become more profitable after spinning off from the old Hewlett-Packard Co in fall last year. While sales were down 3 percent from a year ago, Hewlett Packard Enterprise said revenue from computer servers, data storage systems and networking gear all increased after adjusting for currency fluctuations.
Vincent Wei led fellow Singaporean farmers around an empty Malaysian plot, laying out plans for a greenhouse and rows of leafy vegetables. What he pitched was not just space for crops, but a lifeline for growers struggling to make ends meet in a city-state with high prices and little vacant land. The future agriculture hub is part of a joint special economic zone launched last year by the two neighbors, expected to cost US$123 million and produce 10,000 tonnes of fresh produce annually. It is attracting Singaporean farmers with promises of cheaper land, labor and energy just over the border.
US actor Matthew McConaughey has filed recordings of his image and voice with US patent authorities to protect them from unauthorized usage by artificial intelligence (AI) platforms, a representative said earlier this week. Several video clips and audio recordings were registered by the commercial arm of the Just Keep Livin’ Foundation, a non-profit created by the Oscar-winning actor and his wife, Camila, according to the US Patent and Trademark Office database. Many artists are increasingly concerned about the uncontrolled use of their image via generative AI since the rollout of ChatGPT and other AI-powered tools. Several US states have adopted
A proposed billionaires’ tax in California has ignited a political uproar in Silicon Valley, with tech titans threatening to leave the state while California Governor Gavin Newsom of the Democratic Party maneuvers to defeat a levy that he fears would lead to an exodus of wealth. A technology mecca, California has more billionaires than any other US state — a few hundred, by some estimates. About half its personal income tax revenue, a financial backbone in the nearly US$350 billion budget, comes from the top 1 percent of earners. A large healthcare union is attempting to place a proposal before
KEEPING UP: The acquisition of a cleanroom in Taiwan would enable Micron to increase production in a market where demand continues to outpace supply, a Micron official said Micron Technology Inc has signed a letter of intent to buy a fabrication site in Taiwan from Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電) for US$1.8 billion to expand its production of memory chips. Micron would take control of the P5 site in Miaoli County’s Tongluo Township (銅鑼) and plans to ramp up DRAM production in phases after the transaction closes in the second quarter, the company said in a statement on Saturday. The acquisition includes an existing 12 inch fab cleanroom of 27,871m2 and would further position Micron to address growing global demand for memory solutions, the company said. Micron expects the transaction to
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