GERMANY
Production beats estimates
Industrial production fell by less than expected in March and trade proved resilient, Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy data showed yesterday, supporting robust growth expectations for the first quarter. The reports followed by one day data showing the nation’s industrial orders rose for the second consecutive month in March, the first time since 2015. Industrial output edged down by 0.4 percent on the month, yesterday’s data showed. This was better than the consensus forecast in a Reuters poll for a drop of 0.6 percent. The decline was driven by a 2.5 percent fall in energy output. Manufacturing production was down 0.5 percent while construction output rose 1.5 percent. In the first quarter as a whole, industrial production rose 1.4 percent on the quarter, the ministry said. The ministry said the industrial upswing in the first quarter had momentum.
FINANCE
Wells Fargo eyes unit sale
Wells Fargo & Co is weighing a sale of its insurance brokerage business, which could fetch about US$2 billion, people familiar with the matter said. The San Francisco-based lender has begun reaching out to private equity firms to gauge interest in Wells Fargo Insurance Services USA Inc, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter is not public. While the company is planning to move forward with a sale, it has not set a timeline for holding a formal auction, one of the people said. If Wells Fargo fetches US$2 billion for the insurance services unit, it would be the company’s largest divestiture on record, topping the US$1.05 billion sale last year of its crop insurance business to Zurich Insurance Group AG, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
BANKING
Credit Suisse to cut staff
Credit Suisse Group AG is cutting as many as 35 positions at its equities business in Asia after the unit’s revenue slumped, a person with knowledge of the matter said. The firm is mainly culling trading, sales, prime brokerage and research positions in the region, according to the person, who asked not to be identified discussing private information. The latest round of reductions, which started about two months ago, is to be completed by next month, the person said. Credit Suisse is shaking up a markets business that was singled out as unprofitable and suffering from “significantly reduced client activity” by the firm’s chief executive officer Tidjane Thiam when reporting first-quarter earnings last month. Equities trading revenue dropped 16 percent in the Asia-Pacific region in the quarter, stung by a slump in derivatives sales.
TRADE
EU pushes China on access
Europe hopes China would deliver its pro-globalization pledges by increasing foreign access to its own markets, EU Ambassador to China Hans Dietmar Schweisgut said yesterday ahead of a summit to discuss Beijing’s signature New Silk Road development plan. Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos in January painted a picture of China as a wide-open economy in contrast to a rising wave of global protectionism. However, the Chinese government has faced increasingly fervent criticism from foreign business groups and governments, who say China has done little to remove discriminatory policies and market barriers that favor Chinese companies. Schweisgut said Europe was impressed by Xi’s defense of globalization and open markets in Davos, calling them important messages.
PROTECTIONISM: China hopes to help domestic chipmakers gain more market share while preparing local tech companies for the possibility of more US sanctions Beijing is stepping up pressure on Chinese companies to buy locally produced artificial intelligence (AI) chips instead of Nvidia Corp products, part of the nation’s effort to expand its semiconductor industry and counter US sanctions. Chinese regulators have been discouraging companies from purchasing Nvidia’s H20 chips, which are used to develop and run AI models, sources familiar with the matter said. The policy has taken the form of guidance rather than an outright ban, as Beijing wants to avoid handicapping its own AI start-ups and escalating tensions with the US, said the sources, who asked not to be identified because the
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
CHEMICAL FIRE: 10 Indian employees were injured by smoke inhalation at a Tata Electronics plant in Tamil Nadu state that produces components for Apple Inc At least 10 people received medical treatment, with two hospitalized after a major fire on Saturday disrupted production at a key Tata Electronics Pvt Ltd plant in southern India that makes Apple Inc’s iPhone components. The fire occurred at the plant in the city of Hosur in Tamil Nadu state that makes some iPhone components. It broke out near another building inside the Tata complex, which was to begin producing complete iPhones in the coming months. The fire was contained to one building and has been extinguished fully, top district administrative official K.M. Sarayu said. No decision has been made on when
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