MONETARY
China’s forex reserves rise
Chinese foreign-exchange reserves rose for a third month last month, beating estimates, as tighter capital controls kept money from flowing out of the country and the yuan was stable. Reserves climbed US$20.45 billion to US$3.03 trillion, the People’s Bank of China said on Sunday, compared with a median estimate of US$3.02 trillion in a Bloomberg survey of economists. The onshore yuan declined 0.2 percent against the US dollar last month, the third month in a row in which it has not moved by more than 0.22 percent. It has appreciated 0.6 percent against the greenback so far this year. A gauge of swings in the onshore yuan against the US currency is at the lowest level since August 2015.
AUSTRALIA
Business confidence jumps
Australian business confidence surged to the highest level since 2010 and companies’ conditions advanced further, signaling economic growth could accelerate. The sentiment index jumped 7 points to 13 last month, according to a National Australia Bank Ltd’s survey of more than 400 firms conducted from April 21 to 28. The business conditions gauge — a measure of hiring, sales and profits — climbed to 14 from a revised 12, driven mainly by employment, the bank said.
ENERGY
Russia backs output cut
The Russian Ministry of Energy yesterday voiced its support for a suggestion from Saudi Arabia that OPEC and its allies extend their oil output cuts into next year, doubling down on an effort to eliminate a supply surplus and boost prices. Russia and Saudi Arabia, the largest of the 24 nations that agreed to cut production, are reaffirming their commitment to the deal amid growing doubts about its effectiveness against surging US production. Oil has surrendered almost all its gains since their deal late last year. Ministers are to meet again in Vienna on May 25 to make the final decision on any extension.
REAL ESTATE
UK quarterly prices drop
UK housing prices recorded their first quarterly decline in more than four years, adding to signs that the property market is cooling. In the three months to April, prices fell 0.2 percent compared with the previous three months, lender Halifax said in a report yesterday. Last month alone, prices slipped 0.1 percent, meaning they have not risen for the past four months. Almost every UK gauge is now pointing to a housing slowdown. Annual growth based on data from Nationwide Building Society is at the weakest in almost four years, while gains in asking prices for homes have also lost momentum. Mortgage approvals fell to a six-month low in March, the Bank of England said.
MACROECONOMICS
German factory orders rise
German factory orders expanded for a second month as Europe’s largest economy picked up speed. Orders, adjusted for seasonal swings and inflation, rose 1 percent in March, after expanding an upwardly revised 3.5 percent in February, data from the Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy in Berlin showed yesterday. The typically volatile reading compares with a median estimate for a 0.7 percent gain in a Bloomberg survey. Orders were up 2.4 percent from a year earlier, when adjusted for working days. The Bundesbank said the German economy probably gathered momentum in the first quarter on the back of strong consumer spending and a brightening outlook for manufacturers.
FALLING BEHIND: Samsung shares have declined more than 20 percent this year, as the world’s largest chipmaker struggles in key markets and plays catch-up to rival SK Hynix Samsung Electronics Co is laying off workers in Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand as part of a plan to reduce its global headcount by thousands of jobs, sources familiar with the situation said. The layoffs could affect about 10 percent of its workforces in those markets, although the numbers for each subsidiary might vary, said one of the sources, who asked not to be named because the matter is private. Job cuts are planned for other overseas subsidiaries and could reach 10 percent in certain markets, the source said. The South Korean company has about 147,000 in staff overseas, more than half
Taipei is today suspending its US$2.5 trillion stock market as Super Typhoon Krathon approaches Taiwan with strong winds and heavy rain. The nation is not conducting securities, currency or fixed-income trading, statements from its stock and currency exchanges said. Yesterday, schools and offices were closed in several cities and counties in southern and eastern Taiwan, including in the key industrial port city of Kaohsiung. Taiwan, which started canceling flights, ship sailings and some train services earlier this week, has wind and rain advisories in place for much of the island. It regularly experiences typhoons, and in July shut offices and schools as
An Indian factory producing iPhone components resumed work yesterday after a fire that halted production — the third blaze to disrupt Apple Inc’s local supply chain since the start of last year. Local industrial behemoth Tata Group’s plant in Tamil Nadu, which was shut down by the unexplained fire on Saturday, is a key linchpin of Apple’s nascent supply chain in the country. A spokesperson for subsidiary Tata Electronics Pvt yesterday said that the company would restart work in “many areas of the facility today.” “We’ve been working diligently since Saturday to support our team and to identify the cause of the fire,”
TECH PARTNERSHIP: The deal with Arizona-based Amkor would provide TSMC with advanced packing and test capacities, a requirement to serve US customers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is collaborating with Amkor Technology Inc to provide local advanced packaging and test capacities in Arizona to address customer requirements for geographical flexibility in chip manufacturing. As part of the agreement, TSMC, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, would contract turnkey advanced packaging and test services from Amkor at their planned facility in Peoria, Arizona, a joint statement released yesterday said. TSMC would leverage these services to support its customers, particularly those using TSMC’s advanced wafer fabrication facilities in Phoenix, Arizona, it said. The companies would jointly define the specific packaging technologies, such as TSMC’s Integrated
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