JAPAN
Spending drops 3.9% yearly
Household spending dropped 3.9 percent in May from a year earlier, far worse than market expectations of a 1.5 percent decline, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said yesterday. The drop marked the fourth consecutive monthly decline and suggests that hopes for a rise in consumption are unlikely to be met anytime soon. Consumers were particularly reluctant to spend on eating out, recreation and cultural activities, and clothing and footwear, ministry data showed.
UNITED STATES
Services index rises further
Service firms expanded at a surprisingly strong pace last month as companies saw gains in business activity and new orders. The Institute for Supply Management on Thursday said that its services index rose to 59.1, from 58.6 in May. The services sector, where most Americans are employed, has now expanded for 101 consecutive months, or more than eight years. Last month’s gain was stronger than expected. Many economists believed that the index reading might slip slightly.
COPYRIGHT
EU lawmakers reject law
Members of the European Parliament on Thursday rejected a highly controversial EU copyright law proposal that has pitted Beatles base guitarist and songwriter Paul McCartney against the creators of Wikipedia. Lawmakers meeting at the Strasbourg, France, parliament voted 318 against and 278 in favor, with 31 abstentions. The draft law was firmly resisted by major US tech giants, as well as advocates of Internet freedom. Lawmakers are expected to return to the plans, which are aimed at ensuring that creators of creative content are paid fairly, in September.
STEELMAKERS
Thyssenkrupp CEO to resign
Thyssenkrupp chief executive Heinrich Hiesinger has handed in his resignation less than a week after a merger of its steelmaking business with India’s Tata, creating Europe’s second-biggest steelmaker, the group said on Thursday. “The supervisory board will meet tomorrow [Friday] to discuss and decide on the request of Mr Heinrich Hiesinger,” Thyssenkrupp said in a statement, adding that Hiesinger was seeking to end his tenure by “mutual accord.” The firm gave no further information on his reasons for going.
MARINE TECHNOLOGY
Rolls-Royce sells unit
Kongsberg Gruppen ASA agreed to buy a marine business from Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC for ￡500 million (US$662 million), expanding in technology for ships. The Norwegian supplier to the oil and gas industry is to adjust the final purchase price based on its cash, debt and working capital when it concludes the deal, Kongsberg said in a statement yesterday. The purchase does not include Bergen Engines nor Rolls-Royce’s naval business. Kongsberg plans to finance the purchase with debt and a rights issue of 5 billion Norwegian kroner (US$622 million), it said.
AUTOMAKERS
VW probe gets green light
Investigators can examine internal documents seized last year from automaker Volkswagen AG (VW) as part of a probe into the diesel emissions scandal, the German Federal Constitutional Court said yesterday. The court dismissed a legal complaint from Volkswagen seeking to block authorities from using the documents for their investigation. In 2015, US authorities revealed that the company had used engine software to cheat on emissions tests.
To many, Tatu City on the outskirts of Nairobi looks like a success. The first city entirely built by a private company to be operational in east Africa, with about 25,000 people living and working there, it accounts for about two-thirds of all foreign investment in Kenya. Its low-tax status has attracted more than 100 businesses including Heineken, coffee brand Dormans, and the biggest call-center and cold-chain transport firms in the region. However, to some local politicians, Tatu City has looked more like a target for extortion. A parade of governors have demanded land worth millions of dollars in exchange
Hong Kong authorities ramped up sales of the local dollar as the greenback’s slide threatened the foreign-exchange peg. The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) sold a record HK$60.5 billion (US$7.8 billion) of the city’s currency, according to an alert sent on its Bloomberg page yesterday in Asia, after it tested the upper end of its trading band. That added to the HK$56.1 billion of sales versus the greenback since Friday. The rapid intervention signals efforts from the city’s authorities to limit the local currency’s moves within its HK$7.75 to HK$7.85 per US dollar trading band. Heavy sales of the local dollar by
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) revenue jumped 48 percent last month, underscoring how electronics firms scrambled to acquire essential components before global tariffs took effect. The main chipmaker for Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp reported monthly sales of NT$349.6 billion (US$11.6 billion). That compares with the average analysts’ estimate for a 38 percent rise in second-quarter revenue. US President Donald Trump’s trade war is prompting economists to retool GDP forecasts worldwide, casting doubt over the outlook for everything from iPhone demand to computing and datacenter construction. However, TSMC — a barometer for global tech spending given its central role in the
An Indonesian animated movie is smashing regional box office records and could be set for wider success as it prepares to open beyond the Southeast Asian archipelago’s silver screens. Jumbo — a film based on the adventures of main character, Don, a large orphaned Indonesian boy facing bullying at school — last month became the highest-grossing Southeast Asian animated film, raking in more than US$8 million. Released at the end of March to coincide with the Eid holidays after the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, the movie has hit 8 million ticket sales, the third-highest in Indonesian cinema history, Film
RSS