ECONOMY
Federal Reserve favors hike
US central bankers are sharply divided over whether to increase interest rates again this year amid persistently weak inflation, but many still favor a hike, meeting minutes released on Wednesday showed. The continuing disagreements among members of the US Federal Reserve could leave investors and market watchers guessing about the path of US monetary policy in the waning months of the year. Policymakers also said the economic effects of hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, which tore a path of destruction across US territories between August and last month, were likely to be only temporary, the meeting minutes said.
SUPERMARKETS
Tesco to takeover Booker
British wholesaler Booker Group PLC yesterday said it expected its ￡3.7 billion (US$4.9 billion) takeover by Tesco PLC to be completed early next year, as it reported a 9 percent rise in first-half profit. The agreed deal is currently being investigated by regulator the Competition and Markets Authority and provisional findings are expected by the end of the month, ahead of a final report by the end of the year. Booker made a pretax profit of ￡88 million in the 24 weeks to Sept. 8, up from ￡81 million in the same period last year. Total sales rose 2.5 percent to ￡2.6 billion.
AUTOMAKERS
BMW to outsource the Mini
BMW AG is working on a deal to outsource the manufacturing of Mini cars in China to Great Wall Motor Co Ltd (長城汽車), the country’s biggest SUV maker, according to people with knowledge of the plan. The two companies are discussing possible export of Mini brand cars from China to other markets, the officials said, asking not to be identified as the deliberations are private. Earlier yesterday, Great Wall suspended the trading of its shares in Hong Kong after the stock jumped 14 percent on Wednesday amid speculation in local media that the two companies would form a joint venture.
BEVERAGES
UK duty deflates sales
Sales of Scotch whisky in the UK have declined after British Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond hiked taxes on spirits, according to official figures that provoked calls to reverse the measure in next month’s budget. Government figures show the industry released 36.7 million bottles of Scotch for sale in the first six months of this year, down from 37.7 million in the same period last year. The Scotch Whisky Association industry body wants Hammond to scrap his March announcement of a 3.9 percent increase in spirits duty.
MANUFACTURING
Hon Hai eyes healthcare
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海) is not expected to decide on a second location in investing in Wisconsin until next year, according to the Wisconsin State Journal newspaper. Hon Hai is considering investing in a medical facility in Wisconsin, in addition to a US$10 billion plan to build a flat panel factory, Charlie Alvarez, senior adviser to the president of Foxconn Medical Group (鴻海醫療集團), said on Tuesday in an interview with the newspaper that was published on Wednesday. “Right now, we’re waiting on the other facility to get up and going, and then we’ll get directives on the healthcare group,” Alvarez said. However, a medical-related unit in the state is not definite, he said.
KEEPING UP: The acquisition of a cleanroom in Taiwan would enable Micron to increase production in a market where demand continues to outpace supply, a Micron official said Micron Technology Inc has signed a letter of intent to buy a fabrication site in Taiwan from Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電) for US$1.8 billion to expand its production of memory chips. Micron would take control of the P5 site in Miaoli County’s Tongluo Township (銅鑼) and plans to ramp up DRAM production in phases after the transaction closes in the second quarter, the company said in a statement on Saturday. The acquisition includes an existing 12 inch fab cleanroom of 27,871m2 and would further position Micron to address growing global demand for memory solutions, the company said. Micron expects the transaction to
Vincent Wei led fellow Singaporean farmers around an empty Malaysian plot, laying out plans for a greenhouse and rows of leafy vegetables. What he pitched was not just space for crops, but a lifeline for growers struggling to make ends meet in a city-state with high prices and little vacant land. The future agriculture hub is part of a joint special economic zone launched last year by the two neighbors, expected to cost US$123 million and produce 10,000 tonnes of fresh produce annually. It is attracting Singaporean farmers with promises of cheaper land, labor and energy just over the border.
US actor Matthew McConaughey has filed recordings of his image and voice with US patent authorities to protect them from unauthorized usage by artificial intelligence (AI) platforms, a representative said earlier this week. Several video clips and audio recordings were registered by the commercial arm of the Just Keep Livin’ Foundation, a non-profit created by the Oscar-winning actor and his wife, Camila, according to the US Patent and Trademark Office database. Many artists are increasingly concerned about the uncontrolled use of their image via generative AI since the rollout of ChatGPT and other AI-powered tools. Several US states have adopted
A proposed billionaires’ tax in California has ignited a political uproar in Silicon Valley, with tech titans threatening to leave the state while California Governor Gavin Newsom of the Democratic Party maneuvers to defeat a levy that he fears would lead to an exodus of wealth. A technology mecca, California has more billionaires than any other US state — a few hundred, by some estimates. About half its personal income tax revenue, a financial backbone in the nearly US$350 billion budget, comes from the top 1 percent of earners. A large healthcare union is attempting to place a proposal before
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