HONG KONG
US dollar peg to remain
The territory had no plans to change its currency’s peg to the US dollar and has not seen any “obvious” capital outflows after Washington moved to strip it of its special status in US law, Financial Secretary Paul Chan (陳茂波) said yesterday. Authorities were confident in defending the Hong Kong dollar exchange rate, with foreign-exchange reserves twice the size of the entire monetary base, and liquidity in the banking system “very healthy and strong,” Chan said. He added that capital would continue to flow freely in and out of the territory.
BANKING
Del Vecchio to raise stake
Italian eyewear billionaire Leonardo Del Vecchio stepped up his efforts to become a bigger player in Italy’s finance industry, asking for approval to raise his stake in Mediobanca SpA to as much as 20 percent. Del Vecchio, who owns 10 percent of Italy’s largest publicly traded investment bank, submitted the request to the Bank of Italy on Friday, he said in a statement yesterday. The 85-year-old founder of Luxottica SpA is seeking to diversify his fortune into banking.
TELECOMS
Funds eye Spanish firm
Three buyout funds offered to acquire Spanish telecom Masmovil Ibercom SA for 3 billion euros (US$3.3 billion), in one of the largest private equity deals since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March. KKR & Co, Cinven Ltd and Providence Equity Partners LLC offered 22.5 euros a share for the company, according to a statement yesterday. The offer, which was accepted by Masmovil’s board, is 20 percent above Friday’s closing share price. Providence is the second-largest shareholder in Masmovil, with a 9.2 percent stake.
RARE EARTHS
Chinese stocks surge
Chinese rare earth stocks last month surged amid bets that increased tensions with the US would spur Beijing to limit exports of the crucial metals. The sector saw double-digit jumps, led by China Minmetals Rare Earth Co (中國五礦) at 27 percent and JL Mag Rare-Earth Co (江西金力永磁科技) at 24 percent. Rare earth elements also rallied, with dysprosium oxide jumping almost 10 percent in barely a week to its highest since August last year, while terbium oxide climbed 7.7 percent, according to commodities market information provider Shanghai SteelHome E-Commerce Co (上海鋼之家電子商務).
INDIA
Power generation slows fall
The country’s electricity generation last month fell at a slower pace than in April, as higher temperatures lead to greater demand for residential power and the government eased some lockdown restrictions to control the spread of the coronavirus. Overall electricity generation fell 14.3 percent, a Reuters analysis of provisional government data showed, compared with a decline of 24 percent in April.
AVIATION
Airbus mulls extra measures
Top Airbus SE executives are planning to assess additional measures that might be necessary to address the effects of the pandemic, people familiar with the matter have said. Among the topics to be discussed at a meeting this week are production rates for the plane maker’s top-selling A320-series narrow-body jet, said the people, who asked not to be named discussing confidential deliberations. An Airbus spokesman declined to comment on speculation related to internal meetings.
The Eurovision Song Contest has seen a surge in punter interest at the bookmakers, becoming a major betting event, experts said ahead of last night’s giant glamfest in Basel. “Eurovision has quietly become one of the biggest betting events of the year,” said Tomi Huttunen, senior manager of the Online Computer Finland (OCS) betting and casino platform. Betting sites have long been used to gauge which way voters might be leaning ahead of the world’s biggest televised live music event. However, bookmakers highlight a huge increase in engagement in recent years — and this year in particular. “We’ve already passed 2023’s total activity and
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) today announced that his company has selected "Beitou Shilin" in Taipei for its new Taiwan office, called Nvidia Constellation, putting an end to months of speculation. Industry sources have said that the tech giant has been eyeing the Beitou Shilin Science Park as the site of its new overseas headquarters, and speculated that the new headquarters would be built on two plots of land designated as "T17" and "T18," which span 3.89 hectares in the park. "I think it's time for us to reveal one of the largest products we've ever built," Huang said near the
China yesterday announced anti-dumping duties as high as 74.9 percent on imports of polyoxymethylene (POM) copolymers, a type of engineering plastic, from Taiwan, the US, the EU and Japan. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce’s findings conclude a probe launched in May last year, shortly after the US sharply increased tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, computer chips and other imports. POM copolymers can partially replace metals such as copper and zinc, and have various applications, including in auto parts, electronics and medical equipment, the Chinese ministry has said. In January, it said initial investigations had determined that dumping was taking place, and implemented preliminary
Intel Corp yesterday reinforced its determination to strengthen its partnerships with Taiwan’s ecosystem partners including original-electronic-manufacturing (OEM) companies such as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電). “Tonight marks a new beginning. We renew our new partnership with Taiwan ecosystem,” Intel new chief executive officer Tan Lip-bu (陳立武) said at a dinner with representatives from the company’s local partners, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the US chip giant’s presence in Taiwan. Tan took the reins at Intel six weeks ago aiming to reform the chipmaker and revive its past glory. This is the first time Tan
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