JAPAN
Core consumer prices fall
Core consumer prices fell for a second straight month last month, dealing another blow to Tokyo’s faltering war on deflation, data showed yesterday. The slightly better-than-expected reading of minus-0.3 percent last month offered fresh evidence of the challenges faced by the government and the Bank of Japan. The figure was slightly better than a Bloomberg forecast of a 0.4 percent drop. Data released earlier this month showed Japan’s January-to-March GDP expanded 0.4 percent.
UNITED KINGDOM
Consumer confidence up
A gauge of UK consumer confidence rose for the first time since January, but remained below zero as the upcoming referendum on EU membership weighed on sentiment. It rose to minus-1 this month from minus-3 last month, GfK said yesterday. A measure of the economic outlook increased from the weakest reading in almost three years, rising to minus-13 from minus-14. The figures follow official data on Thursday that showed consumers stayed resilient in the first quarter, with household spending rising at the fastest pace in almost a year.
AUTOMAKERS
More air bag recalls
Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism yesterday said that automakers would recall about 7 million more cars equipped with Takata Corp air bag inflators without a drying agent by March 2019, bringing the total recalled in the nation to 19.6 million cars. Japan’s latest announcement might further ramp up Takata’s potential recall costs if the air bag maker is found to be responsible for the defective inflators. The ministry said the latest recall covers mainly passenger-side air bags and is to be conducted in phases.
AUTOMAKERS
GM China to recall cars
General Motors Co’s (GM) main Chinese joint venture is recalling 2.2 million cars to deal with insufficient corrosion resistance on crankcase valves. The recall was ordered after the joint venture between GM and state-owned Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp (上海汽車) received complaints about engine damage, the country’s product quality regulator said. The recall applies to Buick Excelle sedans and Chevrolet Cruzes, Epicas and Aveos. The product quality agency said GM would replace affected valves for free.
GAMING
PS4 sales hit 40m
Sony Interactive Entertainment announced on Thursday that PlayStation 4 (PS4) sales hit 40 million units, as they were snapped up at a record-setting pace. Rival Microsoft Corp has not released recent Xbox One sales figures, which were reported to be just shy of 19 million units as of the end of last year. Both consoles were launched in November 2013. PS4 has seen the fastest and strongest adoption since the first generation of the console was introduced in late 1994.
INSURANCE
AXA sees loss in UK sale
AXA SA said the sale of its UK life and savings businesses would generate a loss of 400 million euros (US$447 million). The French insurer yesterday said that it agreed to sell its UK investment, pensions and direct protection businesses to Phoenix Group Holdings, a transaction that it expects to complete in the second half of this year. The sale of AXA’s offshore investment bonds unit based in the Isle of Man was announced on April 28 and the sale of its Elevate division was announced on May 4.
PERSISTENT RUMORS: Nvidia’s CEO said the firm is not in talks to sell AI chips to China, but he would welcome a change in US policy barring the activity Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) said his company is not in discussions to sell its Blackwell artificial intelligence (AI) chips to Chinese firms, waving off speculation it is trying to engineer a return to the world’s largest semiconductor market. Huang, who arrived in Taiwan yesterday ahead of meetings with longtime partner Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), took the opportunity to clarify recent comments about the US-China AI race. The Nvidia head caused a stir in an interview this week with the Financial Times, in which he was quoted as saying “China will win” the AI race. Huang yesterday said
Japanese technology giant Softbank Group Corp said Tuesday it has sold its stake in Nvidia Corp, raising US$5.8 billion to pour into other investments. It also reported its profit nearly tripled in the first half of this fiscal year from a year earlier. Tokyo-based Softbank said it sold the stake in Silicon Vally-based Nvidia last month, a move that reflects its shift in focus to OpenAI, owner of the artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot ChatGPT. Softbank reported its profit in the April-to-September period soared to about 2.5 trillion yen (about US$13 billion). Its sales for the six month period rose 7.7 percent year-on-year
Nissan Motor Co has agreed to sell its global headquarters in Yokohama for ￥97 billion (US$630 million) to a group sponsored by Taiwanese autoparts maker Minth Group (敏實集團), as the struggling automaker seeks to shore up its financial position. The acquisition is led by a special purchase company managed by KJR Management Ltd, a Japanese real-estate unit of private equity giant KKR & Co, people familiar with the matter said. KJR said it would act as asset manager together with Mizuho Real Estate Management Co. Nissan is undergoing a broad cost-cutting campaign by eliminating jobs and shuttering plants as it grapples
MORE WEIGHT: The national weighting was raised in one index while holding steady in two others, while several companies rose or fell in prominence MSCI Inc, a global index provider, has raised Taiwan’s weighting in one of its major indices and left the country’s weighting unchanged in two other indices after a regular index review. In a statement released on Thursday, MSCI said it has upgraded Taiwan’s weighting in the MSCI All-Country World Index by 0.02 percentage points to 2.25 percent, while maintaining the weighting in the MSCI Emerging Markets Index, the most closely watched by foreign institutional investors, at 20.46 percent. Additionally, the index provider has left Taiwan’s weighting in the MSCI All-Country Asia ex-Japan Index unchanged at 23.15 percent. The latest index adjustments are to
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