MACROECONOMICS
Service sector stagnates
Activity in Taiwan’s service sector was sluggish in September due to fewer business days as a result of Typhoon Megi, according to a survey by the Commerce Development Research Institute. The institute said the index of service industry was 97 points in September, down 2 points from the previous month and flashing “yellow-blue,” indicating sluggishness. It forecast that the index for last month would rise to 99 points on higher consumption spurred by an increased number of holidays and promotional campaigns by department store chains.
CHINA
Cap on banks to be raised
The government said it is committed to letting overseas banks own bigger stakes in securities and fund-management joint ventures in the nation, in a statement that was released after financial and economic talks this week with the UK. A 49 percent ownership limit will gradually be raised, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement on Friday, without saying when or by how much. Foreign investors’ participation can boost the industry’s competitiveness and global influence, it said. China also pledged to help companies increase investment in the UK and support London as an offshore yuan center.
RETAIL
JC Penney cuts outlook
JC Penney Co cut its sales outlook for the year after reporting a surprise decline for a key sales figure during the third quarter as it wrestled with sluggish clothing sales. The report is a setback for JC Penney, whose business, like other retailers, has been volatile, bouncing back in the summer after a tough start to the year. JC Penney reported a loss of US$67 million in its fiscal third quarter, which had narrowed from a loss of US$115 million a year ago. On a per-share basis, the Plano, Texas-based company said it had a loss of US$0.22. Losses, adjusted for restructuring costs, were US$0.21 per share. The results beat Wall Street expectations.
SOUTH AFRICA
Eskom head resigns
The head of the nation’s state-owned power company Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd on Friday announced his resignation in a corruption scandal that has embroiled President Jacob Zuma. Brian Molefe became the first person to step down after a report released last week raised allegations of corrupt links between Zuma, ministers, top officials and the Guptas, a wealthy business family. The report included allegations that Zuma ensured the Gupta family won huge preferential contracts with state companies such as Eskom.
ENERGY
SandRidge to cut more jobs
A SandRidge Energy Inc spokesman said the Oklahoma City-based company is planning more layoffs. David Kimmel on Friday told the Journal Record that employees have been told that layoffs would occur soon, but he declined to say how many employees would be affected or when the layoffs would take place. Kimmel said low commodity prices make the layoffs necessary for the long-term success of the oil and natural gas producer. The announcement comes just more than a month after SandRidge emerged from bankruptcy and after it laid off 172 employees in February.
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
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
CRESTING WAVE: Companies are still buying in, but the shivers in the market could be the first signs that the AI wave has peaked and the collapse is upon the world Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday reported a new monthly record of NT$367.47 billion (US$11.85 billion) in consolidated sales for last month thanks to global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications. Last month’s figure represented 16.9 percent annual growth, the slowest pace since February last year. On a monthly basis, sales rose 11 percent. Cumulative sales in the first 10 months of the year grew 33.8 percent year-on-year to NT$3.13 trillion, a record for the same period in the company’s history. However, the slowing growth in monthly sales last month highlights uncertainty over the sustainability of the AI boom even as
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