EQUITIES
Tech issues stop trading
India’s largest exchange yesterday resumed trading in its stock and equity derivatives markets after keeping traders on tenterhooks for about three hours with conflicting messages about what time operations would resume. Issues at the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd started early, when traders were unable to execute trades at its venue and prices were not updating, Kejriwal Research and Investment Services founder Arun Kejriwal said. The bourse shut both the cash and derivatives segments at 9:55am and said premarket trading would resume at 10:45am. Technical issues persisted, forcing it to delay the restart to 11am before finally restarting at 12:30pm. A pricing display issue was still being addressed, an exchange spokeswoman said.
ENERGY
ADNOC mulls joint ventures
The United Arab Emirates’ main state oil company yesterday said that it was seeking to create joint ventures with international investors and was considering floating shares in some of its businesses in an effort to raise billions of dollars. The Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (ADNOC) said the plans would include expanding its drilling operations, creating a new “energy infrastructure venture” and further opening up its refinery and petrochemical operations to outside investors. The company said it was considering an initial public offering for minority stakes in some related services businesses, though it ruled out floating shares in the overall company for now. That is to remain owned by the Abu Dhabi government. Abu Dhabi holds the bulk of the oil wealth in the seven-state Emirates federation. In October last year, it announced plans to combine two major offshore divisions to streamline its operations amid a slump in oil prices.
ENERGY
Shell spends on renewables
Royal Dutch Shell PLC plans to spend as much as US$1 billion a year on its New Energies division as the transition toward renewable power and electric cars accelerates. “In some parts of the world we are beginning to see battery-electric cars starting to gain consumer acceptance,” while wind and solar costs are falling fast, Shell chief executive Ben van Beurden said in a speech in Istanbul yesterday. “All of this is good news for the world and must accelerate,” while still offering opportunities for producers of fossil fuels. Shell sees opportunities in hydrogen fuel-cells, liquefied natural gas and next-generation biofuels for air travel, shipping and heavy freight — areas of transport for which batteries are not adequate. The intermittent nature of wind and solar energy means power plants fired by natural gas would have a long-term role, Van Beurden said.
TRADE
German surplus expands
Germany’s trade surplus widened in May, official data showed yesterday, just days after a stormy G20 summit that saw clashes with the US over protectionism. Exports from Europe’s largest economy grew 1.4 percent compared with April adjusting for seasonal effects, reaching 107.9 billion euros, according to federal statistics office Destatis. With exports gaining 1.2 percent to reach 87.6 billion euros, Germany’s trade surplus grew to 20.3 billion euros in May, compared with 19.7 billion euros in April, and were 14.1 percent higher than in May last year. The surplus is a major source of tension between Germany and historically close allies in the US and the EU.
Intel Corp chief executive officer Lip-Bu Tan (陳立武) is expected to meet with Taiwanese suppliers next month in conjunction with the opening of the Computex Taipei trade show, supply chain sources said on Monday. The visit, the first for Tan to Taiwan since assuming his new post last month, would be aimed at enhancing Intel’s ties with suppliers in Taiwan as he attempts to help turn around the struggling US chipmaker, the sources said. Tan is to hold a banquet to celebrate Intel’s 40-year presence in Taiwan before Computex opens on May 20 and invite dozens of Taiwanese suppliers to exchange views
Application-specific integrated circuit designer Faraday Technology Corp (智原) yesterday said that although revenue this quarter would decline 30 percent from last quarter, it retained its full-year forecast of revenue growth of 100 percent. The company attributed the quarterly drop to a slowdown in customers’ production of chips using Faraday’s advanced packaging technology. The company is still confident about its revenue growth this year, given its strong “design-win” — or the projects it won to help customers design their chips, Faraday president Steve Wang (王國雍) told an online earnings conference. “The design-win this year is better than we expected. We believe we will win
Quanta Computer Inc (廣達) chairman Barry Lam (林百里) is expected to share his views about the artificial intelligence (AI) industry’s prospects during his speech at the company’s 37th anniversary ceremony, as AI servers have become a new growth engine for the equipment manufacturing service provider. Lam’s speech is much anticipated, as Quanta has risen as one of the world’s major AI server suppliers. The company reported a 30 percent year-on-year growth in consolidated revenue to NT$1.41 trillion (US$43.35 billion) last year, thanks to fast-growing demand for servers, especially those with AI capabilities. The company told investors in November last year that
Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) yesterday said it plans to ship its new 1 megawatt charging systems for electric trucks and buses in the first half of next year at the earliest. The new charging piles, which deliver up to 1 megawatt of charging power, are designed for heavy-duty electric vehicles, and support a maximum current of 1,500 amperes and output of 1,250 volts, Delta said in a news release. “If everything goes smoothly, we could begin shipping those new charging systems as early as in the first half of next year,” a company official said. The new
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