MEXICO
Economy could contract 4%
The government forecast the economy could contract by as much as 3.9 percent this year, but predicted a rebound next year to as much as 3.5 percent growth, the Ministry of Finance said on Wednesday in an annual economic report used to guide the budget. “The economic forecast under the current circumstances has a high level of uncertainty amid the complexity of the [coronavirus] epidemic, making it difficult to establish a specific growth forecast for the domestic economy,” it said. The government put an upper limit for this year’s growth forecast of 0.1 percent. It also forecast that annual inflation would reach 3.5 percent at the end of the year, before coming down to 3.2 percent next year.
REAL ESTATE
UK market at standstill
Britain’s housing market is grinding to a halt after the government’s shutdown of much of the economy, cutting short a nascent recovery that saw prices rise at their strongest pace in more than two years last month, mortgage lender Nationwide said yesterday. Prices grew by 3 percent compared with March last year, their biggest rise since January 2018 and stronger than a median forecast for a 2 percent increase in a Reuters poll of economists. House prices in London rose by an annual 1 percent in the first quarter of this year after 10 consecutive quarters of declines, Nationwide said.
ENERGY
Whiting officers get bonuses
Whiting Petroleum Corp’s board approved US$14.6 million in cash bonuses for top executives days before the shale oil producer filed for bankruptcy. Chief executive officer Brad Holly is to collect US$6.4 million of the total, to be “paid immediately,” the company said in a filing on Wednesday. Four other executives, including chief financial officer Correne Loeffler, are to receive the rest. Whiting, one of the biggest producers in North Dakota’s Bakken formation, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Wednesday after the plunge in oil prices left it unable to pay its debts. Its board approved the bonuses on Thursday last week.
E-COMMERCE
Amazon wins trademark suit
Amazon.com Inc is not liable for unwittingly stocking trademark infringing goods for third-party sellers, Europe’s top court said yesterday, handing the US online retail giant victory in its battle against cosmetics company Coty Inc. Amazon found itself in a German court after Coty said it breached its trademark rights by stocking its Davidoff perfume for third-party sellers and should be held responsible for such practices. The German court sought guidance from the Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the EU, which backed the US company.
TELECOMS
T-Mobile merger complete
US operators T-Mobile US Inc and Sprint Corp finally merged on Wednesday, the companies said, bringing an end to two years of negotiations as the pair aimed to create a giant capable of competing with the sector’s leading players. The combined firm would have more than 100 million customers, claiming the scale to compete with larger wireless rivals Verizon Communications Inc and AT&T Inc. They said the combined company would operate under the name T-Mobile. The new company has promised to provide 5G to 99 percent of the US population within six years.
It was late morning and steam was rising from water tanks atop the colorful, but opaque-windowed, “soapland” sex parlors in a historic Tokyo red-light district. Walking through the narrow streets, camera in hand, was Beniko — a former sex worker who is trying to capture the spirit of the area once known as Yoshiwara through photography. “People often talk about this neighborhood having a ‘bad history,’” said Beniko, who goes by her nickname. “But the truth is that through the years people have lived here, made a life here, sometimes struggled to survive. I want to share that reality.” In its mid-17th to
‘MAKE OR BREAK’: Nvidia shares remain down more than 9 percent, but investors are hoping CEO Jensen Huang’s speech can stave off fears that the sales boom is peaking Shares in Nvidia Corp’s Taiwanese suppliers mostly closed higher yesterday on hopes that the US artificial intelligence (AI) chip designer would showcase next-generation technologies at its annual AI conference slated to open later in the day. The GPU Technology Conference (GTC) in California is to feature developers, engineers, researchers, inventors and information technology professionals, and would focus on AI, computer graphics, data science, machine learning and autonomous machines. The event comes at a make-or-break moment for the firm, as it heads into the next few quarters, with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang’s (黃仁勳) keynote speech today seen as having the ability to
NEXT GENERATION: The company also showcased automated machines, including a nursing robot called Nurabot, which is to enter service at a Taichung hospital this year Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) expects server revenue to exceed its iPhone revenue within two years, with the possibility of achieving this goal as early as this year, chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) said on Tuesday at Nvidia Corp’s annual technology conference in San Jose, California. AI would be the primary focus this year for the company, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), as rapidly advancing AI applications are driving up demand for AI servers, Liu said. The production and shipment of Nvidia’s GB200 chips and the anticipated launch of GB300 chips in the second half of the year would propel
The battle for artificial intelligence supremacy hinges on microchips, but the semiconductor sector that produces them has a dirty secret: It is a major source of chemicals linked to cancer and other health problems. Global chip sales surged more than 19 percent to about US$628 billion last year, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association, which forecasts double-digit growth again this year. That is adding urgency to reducing the effects of “forever chemicals” — which are also used to make firefighting foam, nonstick pans, raincoats and other everyday items — as are regulators in the US and Europe who are beginning to
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