UNITED KINGDOM
Central bank raises forecast
The Bank of England on Thursday revised up its growth forecasts for the economy for the next three years, but cautioned about the inflation outlook in the wake of the pound’s sharp decline since the nation voted to leave the EU. The bank increased its growth forecast for this year to 2 percent, 1.6 percent next year and 1.7 percent in 2019. It also kept its main interest rate at the record low of 0.25 percent, as expected. In the fourth quarter of last year, it expanded at a quarterly rate of 0.6 percent.
EUROZONE
COI shows strong start
A closely watched survey shows that the economy of the 19 countries that use the euro got off to a strong start this year. Financial information company IHS Markit says its gauge of business activity across both the manufacturing and services sectors — the composite output index (COI) — held steady at a five-and-a-half-year high of 54.4 last month, way above the 50 threshold. A job creation gauge spiked to a nine-year high.
REAL ESTATE
Vancouver sales fall 40%
This time last year, Vancouver was one of world’s hottest housing markets as buyers turned up throughout the winter for bidding wars and sales reached an all-time high. The Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver yesterday reported transactions in Metro Vancouver plunged 40 percent last month over a year earlier as both buyers and sellers hover on the sidelines. It was the seventh straight month of declines, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The ratio of sales to listings — used by the industry as a harbinger of prices — is also at a two-year low.
ARGENTINA
FDI seen doubling this year
Foreign direct investment (FDI) in the nation is expected to double this year from last year’s US$4 billion largely due to upcoming auctions for renewable and non-renewable energy projects, Treasury Minister Nicolas Dujovne said on Thursday. “It’s hard to put a number to it, but it will be much higher than in 2016,” he said during a meeting with foreign correspondents. However, “just with the execution of the payments for the bids on renewable and non-renewable, the FDI will at least double in 2017 from 2016.”
ELECTRONICS
Sharp cuts losses
Sharp Corp yesterday narrowed its full-year loss outlook after posting its first quarterly profit in more than two years, lifted by cost reductions and a turnaround in the display business. The net loss is expected to reach ￥37.2 billion (US$329 million) in the year ending on March 31, the Osaka-based firm said. That is narrower than its previous forecast for a ￥41.8 billion shortfall. “Except for the solar business, all of our operations are profitable,” executive vice president Katsuaki Nomura said. Net income was ￥4.2 billion in the three months that ended on Dec. 31 last year and operating income was ￥18.8 billion in the quarter, Sharp said.
AUTOMAKERS
Honda’s profit soars 36%
Honda Motor Co yesterday said profit jumped 36 percent in the October-to-December quarter on an annual basis, shrugging off damage from a strong yen. The Tokyo-based firm said reduced cuts lifted fiscal third-quarter profit to ￥168.8 billion, up from ￥124.1 billion the previous year. Quarterly sales edged down 3 percent to ￥3.5 trillion from ￥3.6 trillion. Honda raised its full fiscal-year profit forecast to ￥545 billion, up 58 percent from ￥344.5 billion in 2015.
HORMUZ ISSUE: The US president said he expected crude prices to drop at the end of the war, which he called a ‘minor excursion’ that could continue ‘for a little while’ The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Kuwait started reducing oil production, as the near-closure of the crucial Strait of Hormuz ripples through energy markets and affects global supply. Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) is “managing offshore production levels to address storage requirements,” the company said in a statement, without giving details. Kuwait Petroleum Corp said it was lowering production at its oil fields and refineries after “Iranian threats against safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz.” The war in the Middle East has all but closed Hormuz, the narrow waterway linking the Persian Gulf to the open seas,
Taiwan has enough crude oil reserves for more than 100 days and sufficient natural gas reserves for more than 11 days, both above the regulatory safety requirement, Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said yesterday, adding that the government would prioritize domestic price stability as conflicts in the Middle East continue. Overall, energy supply for this month is secure, and the government is continuing efforts to ensure sufficient supply for next month, Kung told reporters after meeting with representatives from business groups at the ministry in Taipei. The ministry has been holding daily cross-ministry meetings at the Executive Yuan to ensure
RATIONING: The proposal would give the Trump administration ample leverage to negotiate investments in the US as it decides how many chips to give each country US officials are debating a new regulatory framework for exporting artificial intelligence (AI) chips and are considering requiring foreign nations to invest in US AI data centers or security guarantees as a condition for granting exports of 200,000 chips or more, according to a document seen by Reuters. The rules are not yet final and could change. They would be the first attempt to regulate the flow of AI chips to US allies and partners since US President Donald Trump’s administration said it rescinded its predecessor’s so-called AI diffusion rules. Those rules sought to keep a significant amount of AI
A new worry has been rippling across the stock market lately: Entire businesses, not just their employees, might be thrown out of work. While most economists say fears of an artificial intelligence (AI) job apocalypse are overblown, seismic shifts have happened in the past after big tech breakthroughs. The IT revolution of the 1990s led to a surge in productivity that sped up the US economy for several years. It also rendered companies or even industries largely redundant — from travel agents and stockbrokers to classified advertising and newspapers, or video rental stores. Economists expect AI would deliver higher productivity,
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