METALS
Copper, nickel climb
Base metals yesterday stormed higher, with copper rallying above US$9,000 per tonne on bets that increased demand, driven by the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, would spur a historic deficit, putting the economic bellwether on course for a record run of monthly gains. Nickel topped US$20,000 per tonne. Copper climbed as much as 4 percent and is heading for an unprecedented 11th monthly rise this month. Metals are on a tear on expectations that post-crisis demand would outstrip near-term supply. That might reinforce speculation about a new commodity supercycle and stoke concern about rising price pressures, as the global economy recovers from the pandemic.
FINANCE
EU firms need UK offices
About 1,000 EU finance firms are expected to open their first offices in the UK after losing their passporting rights because of Brexit. About two-thirds of the 1,500 money managers, payment firms and insurers that have applied for regulatory permission to continue operating in the UK previously had no physical operations in the nation, according to British Financial Conduct Authority records obtained by Bovill, a financial consultancy. Irish, French and German companies together accounted for 584 of the 1,500 applications for authorization to do business in the UK. Cyprus, which is a popular venue for trading platforms, was the next most common, with 151.
BANKING
M&T, People’s plan merger
M&T Bank Corp is nearing an agreement to merge with People’s United Financial Inc, with the two firms discussing an all-stock deal that could be finalized as soon as this week, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter. The banks would have more than US$200 billion in assets combined, it said. People’s United has a market value of about US$6.6 billion, while M&T’s is more than US$19 billion. The combined firm is likely to be led by M&T chief executive Rene Jones and maintain a significant corporate presence in Bridgeport, Connecticut, the newspaper said.
LOGISTICS
Kuehne+Nagel to buy Apex
Kuehne+Nagel International AG has agreed to acquire Apex International Corp in a deal that values the freight forwarder at about US$1.5 billion, people familiar with the matter said. The Swiss logistics firm yesterday announced the transaction without providing any financial terms. Kuehne+Nagel is going to buy a majority stake in Apex Logistics from North Asia-focused private equity firm MBK Partners, which invested in the company in 2015. The management of Apex Logistics would retain a minority stake after the transaction, it said in a statement. The deal is still subject to conditions, including merger clearance by competition authorities, it said.
HONG KONG
Home sales resilient
The property market is showing signs of strength, with weekend home sales reaching an eight-year high. The 10 biggest housing estates tracked by Centaline Property Agency Ltd (中原地產) recorded 37 transactions in the past weekend, a number unseen since 2013, it said. A stabilizing COVID-19 pandemic, relaxed social distancing measures and imminent vaccinations have boosted buyers’ confidence in the housing market, Louis Chan (陳榮威), CEO of Centaline’s residential division, said in an e-mailed statement. Despite experiencing the double whammy of protests and a pandemic, the residential market has remained resilient.
CAUTIOUS RECOVERY: While the manufacturing sector returned to growth amid the US-China trade truce, firms remain wary as uncertainty clouds the outlook, the CIER said The local manufacturing sector returned to expansion last month, as the official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) rose 2.1 points to 51.0, driven by a temporary easing in US-China trade tensions, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. The PMI gauges the health of the manufacturing industry, with readings above 50 indicating expansion and those below 50 signaling contraction. “Firms are not as pessimistic as they were in April, but they remain far from optimistic,” CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said at a news conference. The full impact of US tariff decisions is unlikely to become clear until later this month
With an approval rating of just two percent, Peruvian President Dina Boluarte might be the world’s most unpopular leader, according to pollsters. Protests greeted her rise to power 29 months ago, and have marked her entire term — joined by assorted scandals, investigations, controversies and a surge in gang violence. The 63-year-old is the target of a dozen probes, including for her alleged failure to declare gifts of luxury jewels and watches, a scandal inevitably dubbed “Rolexgate.” She is also under the microscope for a two-week undeclared absence for nose surgery — which she insists was medical, not cosmetic — and is
GROWING CONCERN: Some senior Trump administration officials opposed the UAE expansion over fears that another TSMC project could jeopardize its US investment Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is evaluating building an advanced production facility in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and has discussed the possibility with officials in US President Donald Trump’s administration, people familiar with the matter said, in a potentially major bet on the Middle East that would only come to fruition with Washington’s approval. The company has had multiple meetings in the past few months with US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and officials from MGX, an influential investment vehicle overseen by the UAE president’s brother, the people said. The conversations are a continuation of talks that
CHIP DUTIES: TSMC said it voiced its concerns to Washington about tariffs, telling the US commerce department that it wants ‘fair treatment’ to protect its competitiveness Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday reiterated robust business prospects for this year as strong artificial intelligence (AI) chip demand from Nvidia Corp and other customers would absorb the impacts of US tariffs. “The impact of tariffs would be indirect, as the custom tax is the importers’ responsibility, not the exporters,” TSMC chairman and chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said at the chipmaker’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Hsinchu City. TSMC’s business could be affected if people become reluctant to buy electronics due to inflated prices, Wei said. In addition, the chipmaker has voiced its concern to the US Department of Commerce
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