APPAREL
Nike to close stores
Nike Inc was to close all of its stores in the US and several other countries to curb the spread of COVID-19, CNBC reported on Sunday. Nike stores in Canada, western Europe, Australia and New Zealand would be closed from yesterday to Friday next week, CNBC said. However, the company was still keeping open its outlets in South Korea, Japan, most of China and in “many other countries,” based on daily assessments of the pandemic, CNBC said. Meanwhile, Under Armour Inc said in a statement that it would close all stores in North America from yesterday through Saturday next week.
AIRLINES
Air France-KLM to get aid
Dutch Minister of Finance Wobke Hoekstra on Sunday said that the Netherlands would do “everything it takes” to keep Air France-KLM and Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport operating. Hoekstra would not give any details about a possible bailout, but said that Air France-KLM was “vital for the Dutch economy,” and said he was in close contact with his French colleagues and the Air France management. On Friday, KLM, the Dutch subsidiary of Air France-KLM, said it would slash up to 2,000 jobs and ask for government support as it cuts working hours by one-third across its entire staff.
HOUSING
Singapore sales surge
Housing sales in Singapore last month jumped 57 percent to 975 units from 620 in January, Urban Redevelopment Authority data released yesterday showed. It is the highest February total since 2017, when 979 apartments were sold. Singaporeans view property as a safe asset, boosting the appeal of housing in a time of turmoil. Global equity markets have tanked this month as COVID-19 spreads around the globe. The city-state has not been as hard hit by the virus as other Asian nations. As of Sunday, it had reported 226 cases and no deaths.
TELECOMS
ZTE rejects probe report
ZTE Corp (中興) yesterday said that it had not received any notice from US authorities after NBC News reported on Friday that the Chinese telecoms company was the subject of a new bribery investigation. ZTE said its operations continue as normal. The NBC report said that the US Department of Justice was investigating whether ZTE paid foreign officials to gain advantages in its global operations. “The company would like to clarify that it has not received notices from the relevant government departments of the United States in this regard,” ZTE said in a notice filed on the Hong Kong and Shenzhen stock exchanges.
ENTERTAINMENT
Casinos to limit use
Australia’s two biggest casino companies said that they would shut off half their poker machines to force people to engage in “social distancing” and slow the spread of COVID-19, as concerns about their revenue sent shares tumbling. Melbourne-based Crown Resorts Ltd, which is 37 percent owned by James Packer, and Sydney rival Star Entertainment Group said that they would keep people using machines apart by switching off every second one and restrict the number of players at gambling tables. Crown said it would restrict the number of people in individual conference or restaurant spaces to 450, while Star said it would limit the number of people to 500.
ISSUES: Gogoro has been struggling with ballooning losses and was recently embroiled in alleged subsidy fraud, using Chinese-made components instead of locally made parts Gogoro Inc (睿能創意), the nation’s biggest electric scooter maker, yesterday said that its chairman and CEO Horace Luke (陸學森) has resigned amid chronic losses and probes into the company’s alleged involvement in subsidy fraud. The board of directors nominated Reuntex Group (潤泰集團) general counsel Tamon Tseng (曾夢達) as the company’s new chairman, Gogoro said in a statement. Ruentex is Gogoro’s biggest stakeholder. Gogoro Taiwan general manager Henry Chiang (姜家煒) is to serve as acting CEO during the interim period, the statement said. Luke’s departure came as a bombshell yesterday. As a company founder, he has played a key role in pushing for the
China has claimed a breakthrough in developing homegrown chipmaking equipment, an important step in overcoming US sanctions designed to thwart Beijing’s semiconductor goals. State-linked organizations are advised to use a new laser-based immersion lithography machine with a resolution of 65 nanometers or better, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said in an announcement this month. Although the note does not specify the supplier, the spec marks a significant step up from the previous most advanced indigenous equipment — developed by Shanghai Micro Electronics Equipment Group Co (SMEE, 上海微電子) — which stood at about 90 nanometers. MIIT’s claimed advances last
CROSS-STRAIT TENSIONS: The US company could switch orders from TSMC to alternative suppliers, but that would lower chip quality, CEO Jensen Huang said Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳), whose products have become the hottest commodity in the technology world, on Wednesday said that the scramble for a limited amount of supply has frustrated some customers and raised tensions. “The demand on it is so great, and everyone wants to be first and everyone wants to be most,” he told the audience at a Goldman Sachs Group Inc technology conference in San Francisco. “We probably have more emotional customers today. Deservedly so. It’s tense. We’re trying to do the best we can.” Huang’s company is experiencing strong demand for its latest generation of chips, called
GLOBAL ECONOMY: Policymakers have a choice of a small 25 basis-point cut or a bold cut of 50 basis points, which would help the labor market, but might reignite inflation The US Federal Reserve is gearing up to announce its first interest rate cut in more than four years on Wednesday, with policymakers expected to debate how big a move to make less than two months before the US presidential election. Senior officials at the US central bank including Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have in recent weeks indicated that a rate cut is coming this month, as inflation eases toward the bank’s long-term target of two percent, and the labor market continues to cool. The Fed, which has a dual mandate from the US Congress to act independently to ensure
RSS