AUSTRALIA
Joblessness still above 5%
The jobless rate held above 5 percent last month, despite a surge in hiring, underscoring the Reserve Bank of Australia’s challenge to drive down unemployment and stoke inflation. While the economy added 42,300 roles last month, new entrants were absorbed by a jobs market that swelled to a record, the Bureau of Statistics said in Sydney yesterday. That left the jobless rate at 5.2 percent, which is well above the 4.5 percent level the central bank estimates is needed to revive price pressures. The bank resumed cutting interest rates last week after a three-year hiatus.
UNITED STATES
Consumer prices rise 0.1%
Consumer prices increased a slight 0.1 percent last month from April, as inflation was tempered by lower costs for gasoline, electricity and used vehicles. The Department of Labor on Wednesday said that the consumer price index rose 1.8 percent from a year earlier. Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core prices rose 0.1 percent last month and 2 percent from a year earlier. Inflation has been consistently muted, slightly below or near the Federal Reserve’s target of 2 percent.
RETAIL
Jet.com president job cut
Walmart Inc is eliminating the position of president at its Jet.com subsidiary, which it acquired in 2016, as it further merges the rest of its team with its namesake online operations. As part of the changes, Jet.com president Simon Belsham is to leave in August. Strategy and management of Jet.com is to fall under Kieran Shanahan, who would continue to oversee food, consumables, health and wellness for Walmart.com, the company said on Wednesday.
RETAIL
Tesco downbeat over Brexit
Tesco PLC started the financial year on a downbeat note as the UK’s largest retailer said that sales were held back by the political turmoil over the UK’s plan to leave the EU. Comparable sales in the UK rose 0.4 percent in the first quarter, half the rate analysts expected. Results show that the supermarket operator is not immune to the challenges facing other British retailers, which are being squeezed by competition from discounters, the rise of online shopping and side effects of Brexit.
INVESTMENT
Foreign stakes drop globally
Global foreign direct investment declined last year and trade tensions could hinder its recovery this year, according to the UN. Foreign direct investment flows to developed economies dropped 27 percent to their lowest point since 2004, the UN said in its World Investment Report published on Wednesday. At the global level, flows declined by 13 percent to US$1.3 trillion, mainly because of large-scale repatriations of foreign earnings by US multinationals.
AUTOMAKERS
Renault, Fiat deal hindered
Renault SA chairman Jean-Dominique Senard on Wednesday expressed his frustration with the French government for resisting a merger deal proposed by rival automaker Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV. Senard told a shareholders’ meeting in Paris that “I have rarely seen a merger proposal that could give so much positive synergy, incredibly validating and robust.” However, the French government had not shared his analysis of the benefits of the merger “at this stage,” Senard said. “I can frankly say that disappoints me,” he added.
MANAGING RISKS: Taiwan has secured LNG sufficient to cover 95 percent of electricity demand for next month, UBS said, describing the government’s approach as proactive UBS Group AG has raised its forecast for Taiwan’s economic growth this year to 8 percent, up from 6.9 percent previously, and said expansion could reach as high as 8.6 percent if external energy shocks are avoided. The upgrade reflects a stronger-than-expected first-quarter performance and sustained momentum in artificial intelligence (AI)-driven exports, which UBS said are providing a firm foundation for growth despite geopolitical and energy risks. Taiwan’s GDP expanded 13.69 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, the fastest growth since the second quarter of 1987, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) reported on Thursday. On a seasonally
The Fair Trade Commission’s (FTC) ongoing review of Grab Holdings Ltd’s US$600 million acquisition of Foodpanda Taiwan’s operations, announced on March 23, has taken on fresh urgency as industry experts warn that the transaction could embed significant Chinese cybersecurity vulnerabilities into Taiwan’s digital infrastructure through Grab’s deep ties to autonomous-driving firm WeRide (文遠知行). Less than 16 months after the FTC blocked Uber Eats’ direct attempt to acquire Foodpanda Taiwan — citing potential combined market shares of 80 to 90 percent — the emergence of Grab as the buyer has prompted questions about whether the same competitive harm is simply being rerouted
The list of Asian stocks that benefit from business partnership with Nvidia Corp is getting longer, as the region further integrates into the artificial intelligence (AI) chip giant’s business ecosystem. Just in the past week, South Korea’s LG Electronics Inc, Taiwan’s Nanya Technology Corp (南亞科技), as well as China’s Huizhou Desay SV Automotive Co (德賽西威) and Pateo Connect Technology Shanghai Corp (博泰車聯) have become the latest to rally on news of tie-ups, supply-chain participation or product collaboration with the US chip designer. Asian suppliers account for about 90 percent of Nvidia’s production costs, up from about 65 percent last year, data compiled
POWER BUILDUP: Powered by Nvidia’s B200 Blackwell chips, the data center would support MediaTek’s computing power demand and business growth, the company said Smartphone chip designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) yesterday launched a new artificial intelligence (AI) data center with a maximum capacity of 45 megawatts to meet its rising demand for computing power required to develop new advanced chips for AI applications. The company has completed the first-phase computing power buildup at the data center in Miaoli County’s Tongluo Township (銅鑼), providing 15 megawatts of capacity to support its research and development (R&D) capabilities, despite an industrywide shortage of key components, MediaTek said. Supply constraints have plagued a wide range of key components, including memory chips, solid-state drives, power supply units and central
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