INDONESIA
Interest rates increased
The central bank yesterday unexpectedly raised its benchmark interest rate for a sixth time this year to help rein in a widening trade deficit and bolster the nation’s currency. The seven-day reverse repurchase rate was raised by 25 basis points to 6 percent, surprising most economists who had predicted no change. That took the cumulative rate hikes since May to 175 basis points, making Bank Indonesia one of the most aggressive central banks in Asia this year.
AUSTRALIA
Employment figures improve
Employment surged last month as the Reserve Bank of Australia’s record-low interest rates spurred hiring, while the jobless rate remained at a six-year low, despite an expanding workforce. The report suggests that the reserve bank’s patience — after keeping the cash rate at 1.5 percent for more than two years — is now being rewarded with stronger employment and faster economic growth. Bank Governor Philip Lowe is betting on a tightening labor market to fuel wage growth and inflation.
SINGAPORE
Home sales decline
Private home sales last month slumped 48 percent from a month earlier as developers marketed fewer projects. Developers in the city-state sold 487 units last month versus 932 apartments in September, the Urban Redevelopment Authority said yesterday. That was the lowest monthly tally since February. An index tracking private residential prices increased 0.5 percent in the three months ended Sept. 30 versus a 3.4 percent advance in the June quarter, agency data showed.
UNITED STATES
Politician pans Facebook
US Representative David Cicilline, who is expected to become the next chairman of the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee’s antitrust panel, on Wednesday said that Facebook Inc cannot be trusted to regulate itself and Congress should take action. Cicilline, citing a report in the New York Times on Facebook’s efforts to deal with a series of crises, said on Twitter: “This staggering report makes clear that @Facebook executives will always put their massive profits ahead of the interests of their customers.” He added: “It is long past time for us to take action.”
AUTOMAKERS
European registrations fall
European automakers had another difficult month last month with car registrations slumping once more, putting to the test a fourth-quarter bounce-back projected by Volkswagen AG and Daimler AG. Deliveries of new passenger cars slid 7.4 percent in the EU and European Free Trade Association from a year earlier, compounding a 23 percent drop in September, the European Automobile Manufacturers Association said. The situation should get back to normal later in the year, said EY consultancy, which expects sales this month and next month at about the same level as last year.
OFFICE SPACE
WeWork announces funding
US office space-sharing company WeWork Cos yesterday said it has gotten US$3 billion in funding from Japan’s Softbank Group Corp. WeWork spokesperson Kumiko Hidaka said the new funding comes in addition to the US$1 billion raised from Softbank last quarter.
TECH PARTNERSHIP: The deal with Arizona-based Amkor would provide TSMC with advanced packing and test capacities, a requirement to serve US customers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is collaborating with Amkor Technology Inc to provide local advanced packaging and test capacities in Arizona to address customer requirements for geographical flexibility in chip manufacturing. As part of the agreement, TSMC, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, would contract turnkey advanced packaging and test services from Amkor at their planned facility in Peoria, Arizona, a joint statement released yesterday said. TSMC would leverage these services to support its customers, particularly those using TSMC’s advanced wafer fabrication facilities in Phoenix, Arizona, it said. The companies would jointly define the specific packaging technologies, such as TSMC’s Integrated
An Indian factory producing iPhone components resumed work yesterday after a fire that halted production — the third blaze to disrupt Apple Inc’s local supply chain since the start of last year. Local industrial behemoth Tata Group’s plant in Tamil Nadu, which was shut down by the unexplained fire on Saturday, is a key linchpin of Apple’s nascent supply chain in the country. A spokesperson for subsidiary Tata Electronics Pvt yesterday said that the company would restart work in “many areas of the facility today.” “We’ve been working diligently since Saturday to support our team and to identify the cause of the fire,”
China’s economic planning agency yesterday outlined details of measures aimed at boosting the economy, but refrained from major spending initiatives. The piecemeal nature of the plans announced yesterday appeared to disappoint investors who were hoping for bolder moves, and the Shanghai Composite Index gave up a 10 percent initial gain as markets reopened after a weeklong holiday to end 4.59 percent higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dived 9.41 percent. Chinese National Development and Reform Commission Chairman Zheng Shanjie (鄭珊潔) said the government would frontload 100 billion yuan (US$14.2 billion) in spending from the government’s budget for next year in addition
Sales RecORD: Hon Hai’s consolidated sales rose by about 20 percent last quarter, while Largan, another Apple supplier, saw quarterly sales increase by 17 percent IPhone assembler Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) on Saturday reported its highest-ever quarterly sales for the third quarter on the back of solid global demand for artificial intelligence (AI) servers. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) globally, said it posted NT$1.85 trillion (US$57.93 billion) in consolidated sales in the July-to-September quarter, up 19.46 percent from the previous quarter and up 20.15 percent from a year earlier. The figure beat the previous third-quarter high of NT$1.74 trillion recorded in 2022, company data showed. Due to rising demand for AI, Hon Hai said its cloud and networking division enjoyed strong sales
RSS