CHINA
Producer inflation picks up
Producer inflation picked up for the second month in a row last month, while consumer inflation held steady from the previous month, official data showed yesterday. The producer price index rose 4.1 percent from a year earlier and 0.4 percent from the previous month the National Bureau of Statistics said. The consumer price index rose 1.8 percent from a year earlier but declined 0.2 percent month-on-month.
MINING
Vale sells cobalt futures
Vale SA reached an agreement to sell future production of cobalt as battery makers look to shore up supply of the metal amid a nascent electric-vehicle boom, people with knowledge of the matter said. The deal is for about US$700 million of cobalt to be produced at the Voisey’s Bay complex in Canada that predominately churns out nickel, the people said. Cobalt is a key ingredient in lithium-ion batteries.
TECHNOLOGY
Dialog, Synaptics talk deal
Dialog Semiconductor PLC is in discussions with touch-pad technology maker Synaptics Inc about a potential deal with the US company, people familiar with the matter said. Exploratory talks about a combination are ongoing and may not lead to an agreement, the people said. Dialog has a market value of about 1.15 billion euros (US$1.35 billion), while Synaptics is valued at US$1.6 billion.
INTERNET
BMC seeks cloud purchases
BMC Software Inc is to revamp itself into a cloud competitor by aggressively seeking acquisitions in a bid to better rival ServiceNow Inc in the first sign of the company’s direction under private equity firm KKR & Co. Houston-based BMC is to pursue cloud software makers in a few key areas, BMC president of cloud and enterprise Bill Berutti said. KKR agreed to buy BMC for US$8.3 billion including debt, Bloomberg News reported last week.
TELECOMS
Verizon names next CEO
Verizon Communications Inc’s CEO is retiring and will be succeeded by its chief technology officer, who is the former CEO of Ericsson AB. Lowell McAdam, who served as Verizon’s chief executive for seven years, will remain as its chairman through year’s end and become a non-executive chairman after that time, the firm said on Friday. Hans Vestberg is to take over as Verizon CEO on Aug.
CANADA
Building hits frenetic pace
Canadian builders are running at full tilt. The capacity utilization rate in the nation’s construction industry reached 92.4 percent in the first quarter, Statistics Canada said on Friday. That is the highest level since 1990, up by 1.6 percentage points from the fourth quarter of last year. For all industries the rate climbed to 86.1, the highest since the first quarter of 2006, it said.
ARGENTINA
Stocks rise on IMF deal
Argentina’s stock market rose 4.15 percent while its currency fell 1.68 percent against the US dollar on Friday, a day after Buenos Aires agreed to a US$50 billion stand-by loan from the IMF. During the week, the leading Merval index rose 10.5 percent, while the peso lost 2.3 percent and closed at 25.98 pesos per US dollar on Friday.
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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