CHINA
Restructuring plan approved
Regulators have pushed through the debt restructuring plan of a state-owned steel trader as the government gets set for a new round of debt cleanups, a subsidiary said. Sinosteel Engineering and Technology Co Ltd (中鋼設備) on Tuesday received a notice from its controlling holder, Sinosteel Corp (中國中鋼), that its parent’s plan had been approved with guidance from government agencies, according to a statement from the unit to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. Beijing-based Sinosteel Corp will accelerate supply-side reforms and take the restructuring as an opportunity to become an international company, the statement said.
BANKING
Tax puts jobs at risk
The Swedish Bankers’ Association says a planned tax targeting the finance industry would put some 16,000 jobs at risk. The ruling coalition in Sweden, where assets in the four largest banks are four times the size of the economy, has proposed a new payroll tax that the association says might be set at 15 percent of financial industry salaries. Citing “signals” from a government-ordered review on the levy that has yet to be published, the group said such a move would jeopardize almost one-fifth of Sweden’s 85,000 finance jobs.
GERMANY
Consumers’ moods brighten
Consumers’ moods brightened slightly this month, a monthly survey showed yesterday, but researchers spotlighted fears of trouble in the wake of Brexit and a summer of violence. The headline consumer sentiment index from market research firm GfK crept up to 10.2 points this month. However, the pollsters said that “just the announcement that Britain would leave the EU has caused increased uncertainty” and forecast a slight fall in consumer confidence next month.
CHINA
Rebalancing ‘reverses’
Economic rebalancing to consumer-led growth is reversing, according to the China Beige Book, which said third-quarter growth engines are exclusively in the “old economy.” Manufacturing, property and commodities strengthened while retail, services and transportation — crucial parts of the “new economy” — all saw weaker results, the private survey by CBB International shows. Employment held up while profits and cash flow deteriorated, the New York-based research group said.
FOOD AND DRINK
Chicken nuggets recalled
Tyson Foods Inc on Tuesday said it is voluntarily recalling more than 59.87 tonnes of chicken nuggets after receiving reports that “hard, white plastic” was found in some nuggets. The Springdale, Arkansas-based company said that the 2.27kg bags of fully cooked panko chicken nuggets were sold at Costco stores nationwide. A small number of 9kg cases of chicken patties, sold under the Spare Time brand, were sold to a single wholesaler in Pennsylvania.
E-COMMERCE
Walmart to invest in Flipkart
Wal-Mart Stores Inc is in advanced discussions to invest as much as US$1 billion into India’s Flipkart Online Services Pvt, as the two companies battle Amazon.com Inc in e-commerce, according to a person familiar with the matter. Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, would take a minority stake in Flipkart, the person said, asking not to be identified because the matter is private. Final terms of the deal have not been worked out and negotiations are still under way, the person said.
COMPETITION: AMD, Intel and Qualcomm are unveiling new laptop and desktop parts in Las Vegas, arguing their technologies provide the best performance for AI workloads Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD), the second-biggest maker of computer processors, said its chips are to be used by Dell Technologies Inc for the first time in PCs sold to businesses. The chipmaker unveiled new processors it says would make AMD-based PCs the best at running artificial intelligence (AI) software. Dell has decided to use the chips in some of its computers aimed at business customers, AMD executives said at CES in Las Vegas on Monday. Dell’s embrace of AMD for corporate PCs — it already uses the chipmaker for consumer devices — is another blow for Intel Corp as the company
ADVANCED: Previously, Taiwanese chip companies were restricted from building overseas fabs with technology less than two generations behind domestic factories Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), a major chip supplier to Nvidia Corp, would no longer be restricted from investing in next-generation 2-nanometer chip production in the US, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. However, the ministry added that the world’s biggest contract chipmaker would not be making any reckless decisions, given the weight of its up to US$30 billion investment. To safeguard Taiwan’s chip technology advantages, the government has barred local chipmakers from making chips using more advanced technologies at their overseas factories, in China particularly. Chipmakers were previously only allowed to produce chips using less advanced technologies, specifically
MediaTek Inc (聯發科) yesterday said it is teaming up with Nvidia Corp to develop a new chip for artificial intelligence (AI) supercomputers that uses architecture licensed from Arm Holdings PLC. The new product is targeting AI researchers, data scientists and students rather than the mass PC market, the company said. The announcement comes as MediaTek makes efforts to add AI capabilities to its Dimensity chips for smartphones and tablets, Genio family for the Internet of Things devices, Pentonic series of smart TVs, Kompanio line of Arm-based Chromebooks, along with the Dimensity auto platform for vehicles. MeidaTek, the world’s largest chip designer for smartphones
TECH PULL: Electronics heavyweights also attracted strong buying ahead of the CES, analysts said. Meanwhile, Asian markets were mixed amid Trump’s incoming presidency Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) shares yesterday closed at a new high in the wake of a rally among tech stocks on Wall Street on Friday, moving the TAIEX sharply higher by more than 600 points. TSMC, the most heavily weighted stock in the TAIEX, rose 4.65 percent to close at a new high of NT$1,125, boosting its market value to NT$29.17 trillion (US$888 billion) and contributing about 400 points to the TAIEX’s rise. The TAIEX ended up 639.41 points, or 2.79 percent, at 23,547.71. Turnover totaled NT$406.478 billion, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. The surge in TSMC follows a positive performance
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