SINGAPORE
Economy rebounds in Q2
Singapore’s economy expanded in the second quarter, helped by rising manufacturing and construction, even as growth missed economists’ forecasts. GDP rose an annualized 0.4 percent from the first quarter, according to preliminary estimates from the Ministry of Trade and Industry yesterday. That compares with a revised contraction of 1.9 percent in the first quarter. Compared to the same period last year, GDP rose 2.5 percent in the second quarter, lower than the 2.7 percent median estimate in a Bloomberg survey. The government is projecting an improvement this year from last year’s 2 percent expansion.
UNITED STATES
June budget deficit spikes
The US federal budget deficit rose sharply last month compared with a year ago, although much of the increase reflected calendar quirks. The US Department of the Treasury said the June deficit totaled US$90.2 billion, up from a surplus in June last year of US$6.3 billion. However, outlays grew by US$39 billion this year because benefit payments that normally would have been distributed this month were made last month, as July 1 fell on a Saturday. Through the first nine months of this budget year, the budget deficit totals US$523.1 billion, up from a deficit of US$399.2 billion during the same period a year ago.
AUTOMAKERS
EU demand hits 10-year high
European car demand rose at a slower pace last month, as fewer selling days in Germany and Brexit-related concerns in the UK weighed on a peaking vehicle market. Industrywide registrations increased 2.1 percent from a year earlier to 1.54 million vehicles last month, with Toyota Motor Corp and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV models posting the biggest gains, the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association said yesterday in a statement. While the sales figure marked the strongest June since 2007, the growth lagged behind May’s 7.7 percent jump. First-half registrations rose 4.6 percent to 8.46 million vehicles. The Brussels-based association compiles numbers from the EU’s 28 member states, excluding Malta, plus Switzerland, Norway and Iceland.
AIRLINES
EasyJet to register in Austria
British budget airline easyJet has chosen to apply for an air operator certificate in Austria, and is to establish a new airline, easyJet Europe, to protect its flying rights once Britain leaves the EU. The new airline is to be based in Vienna. The budget airline must have an air operator’s certificate (AOC) in an EU member state to allow it to continue flying between EU member countries after Brexit. “The accreditation process is now well-advanced and easyJet hopes to receive the AOC and license in the near future,” easyJet said in a statement.
TECHNOLOGY
Infosys targets AI
Indian IT giant Infosys Ltd yesterday said artificial intelligence (AI) was key to future profits as it bids to satisfy clients’ demands for innovative new technologies. The company reported an increase of 1.4 percent in consolidated net profit year-on-year for the first quarter, marginally beating analysts’ expectations. Net profit in the three months to June 30 came in at 34.83 billion rupees (US$540 million), marginally above the 34.36 billion rupees it reported in the same period last year, Infosys said. Shares rose nearly 3 percent in early trade after the company forecast revenue growth of between 6.5 to 8.5 percent for the current financial year.
NEW IDENTITY: Known for its software, India has expanded into hardware, with its semiconductor industry growing from US$38bn in 2023 to US$45bn to US$50bn India on Saturday inaugurated its first semiconductor assembly and test facility, a milestone in the government’s push to reduce dependence on foreign chipmakers and stake a claim in a sector dominated by China. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened US firm Micron Technology Inc’s semiconductor assembly, test and packaging unit in his home state of Gujarat, hailing the “dawn of a new era” for India’s technology ambitions. “When young Indians look back in the future, they will see this decade as the turning point in our tech future,” Modi told the event, which was broadcast on his YouTube channel. The plant would convert
Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技) yesterday said the DRAM supply crunch could extend through 2028, as the artificial intelligence (AI) boom has led the world’s major memory makers to dramatically reduce production of standard DRAM and allocate a significant portion of their capacity for high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips. The most severe supply constraints would stretch to the first half of next year due to “very limited” increases in new DRAM capacity worldwide, Nanya Technology president Lee Pei-ing (李培瑛) told a news briefing. The company plans to increase monthly 12-inch wafer capacity to 20,000 in the first half of 2028 after a
Property transactions in the nation’s six special municipalities plunged last month, as a lengthy Lunar New Year holiday combined with ongoing credit tightening dampened housing market activity, data compiled by local land administration offices released on Monday showed. The six cities recorded a total of 10,480 property transfers last month, down 42.5 percent from January and marking the second-lowest monthly level on record, the data showed. “The sharp drop largely reflected seasonal factors and tighter credit conditions,” Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房屋) deputy research manager Chen Chin-ping (陳金萍) said. The nine-day Lunar New Year holiday fell in February this year, reducing
Zimbabwe’s ban on raw lithium exports is forcing Chinese miners to rethink their strategy, speeding up plans to process the metal locally instead of shipping it to China’s vast rechargeable battery industry. The country is Africa’s largest lithium producer and has one of the world’s largest reserves, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS). Zimbabwe already banned the export of lithium ore in 2022 and last year announced it would halt exports of lithium concentrates from January next year. However, on Wednesday it imposed the ban with immediate effect, leaving unclear what the lithium mining sector would do in the
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