UNITED STATES
House prices bounce back
House prices rebounded strongly last month, suggesting underlying demand and a shortage of homes for sale are underpinning the market after a tax break on purchases was withdrawn. The 2.1 percent increase, the second-largest gain in 15 years, followed a 0.6 percent decline in July, when the tapering of a year-long stamp duty holiday landed buyers of more expensive homes with a significant tax bill. The annual pace of growth accelerated to 11 percent from 10.5 percent, the figures from Nationwide Building Society showed. The average house price stood at ￡248,857 (US$342,419) last month, an increase of almost ￡25,000 compared with a year earlier, Nationwide said.
GERMANY
Retail sales fall 5.1 percent
Retail sales fell by far more than expected in July after two months of sharp increases, data showed yesterday. The Federal Statistics Office said retail sales dropped 5.1 percent on the month in real terms after a revised jump of 4.5 percent in June and an increase of 4.6 percent in May. The July reading missed a Reuters forecast for a fall of 0.9 percent. The monthly comparison was distorted heavily by the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions on shopping in most parts of the nation in June, the statistics office said. Retail sales edged down by 0.3 percent in real terms year-on-year, it added.
EL SALVADOR
Bitcoin fund approved
Congress on Tuesday approved a law to create a US$150 million fund to facilitate conversions from bitcoin to US dollars ahead of the Central American nation’s planned adoption of the cryptocurrency as legal tender next week. With 64 votes in favor and 14 votes against, Congress approved the fund as the nation prepares to officially adopt bitcoin on Tuesday next week. The Central American nation would be the first in the world to use the cryptocurrency as legal tender. Money for the new fund would be redirected from the Ministry of Finance’s budget and administered by State Development Bank of El Salvador, lawmakers said.
AIRLINES
SAS’ net loss narrows
Scandinavian airline SAS yesterday said that it sees encouraging signs of travel increasing, but it still faces “headwinds” from the COVID-19 pandemic as it reported a narrower net loss. The carrier reported a net loss of 1.36 billion Swedish kronor (US$157.6 million) for May to July, down from a net loss of 2.37 billion kronor for the same period the previous year. Revenue rose to 3.98 billion kronor, from 2.5 billion kronor a year earlier, the company said, driven mainly by increased demand, but the company noted that was still 70 percent below the same quarter of 2019, which was unaffected by COVID-19.
INTERNET
Google extends home work
Google is extending its voluntary return-to-office policy through January next year, chief executive Sundar Pichai said on Tuesday, citing uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in many parts of the world. The rapid spread of the more contagious Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 is also making companies reconsider their mask mandates and vaccination policies. “Beyond January 10, we will enable countries and locations to make determinations on when to end voluntary work-from-home based on local conditions,” Pichai said in an e-mail to employees.
To many, Tatu City on the outskirts of Nairobi looks like a success. The first city entirely built by a private company to be operational in east Africa, with about 25,000 people living and working there, it accounts for about two-thirds of all foreign investment in Kenya. Its low-tax status has attracted more than 100 businesses including Heineken, coffee brand Dormans, and the biggest call-center and cold-chain transport firms in the region. However, to some local politicians, Tatu City has looked more like a target for extortion. A parade of governors have demanded land worth millions of dollars in exchange
An Indonesian animated movie is smashing regional box office records and could be set for wider success as it prepares to open beyond the Southeast Asian archipelago’s silver screens. Jumbo — a film based on the adventures of main character, Don, a large orphaned Indonesian boy facing bullying at school — last month became the highest-grossing Southeast Asian animated film, raking in more than US$8 million. Released at the end of March to coincide with the Eid holidays after the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, the movie has hit 8 million ticket sales, the third-highest in Indonesian cinema history, Film
BIG BUCKS: Chairman Wei is expected to receive NT$34.12 million on a proposed NT$5 cash dividend plan, while the National Development Fund would get NT$8.27 billion Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday announced that its board of directors approved US$15.25 billion in capital appropriations for long-term expansion to meet growing demand. The funds are to be used for installing advanced technology and packaging capacity, expanding mature and specialty technology, and constructing fabs with facility systems, TSMC said in a statement. The board also approved a proposal to distribute a NT$5 cash dividend per share, based on first-quarter earnings per share of NT$13.94, it said. That surpasses the NT$4.50 dividend for the fourth quarter of last year. TSMC has said that while it is eager
‘IMMENSE SWAY’: The top 50 companies, based on market cap, shape everything from technology to consumer trends, advisory firm Visual Capitalist said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) was ranked the 10th-most valuable company globally this year, market information advisory firm Visual Capitalist said. TSMC sat on a market cap of about US$915 billion as of Monday last week, making it the 10th-most valuable company in the world and No. 1 in Asia, the publisher said in its “50 Most Valuable Companies in the World” list. Visual Capitalist described TSMC as the world’s largest dedicated semiconductor foundry operator that rolls out chips for major tech names such as US consumer electronics brand Apple Inc, and artificial intelligence (AI) chip designers Nvidia Corp and Advanced
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