OIL
Likely OPEC cut lifts prices
Oil prices climbed toward US$82 a barrel on indications the OPEC+ alliance is considering slashing production by more than 1 million barrels a day to revive plunging prices when it meets this week. A reduction of that magnitude would be the biggest since the COVID-19 pandemic, although OPEC+ delegates said a final decision on the size of the cuts would not be made until ministers gather in Vienna on Wednesday. West Texas Intermediate rose more than 2 percent, putting prices on track for the first gain in three sessions. This week’s OPEC+ meeting is to decide on supply for next month, the first in-person gathering since March 2020.
SWITZERLAND
Energy costs slow inflation
Inflation in Switzerland unexpectedly slowed in September on a weaker rise in energy costs, defying soaring prices across Europe. Swiss consumer prices rose 3.3 percent from a year earlier, data from the Federal Statistics Office showed yesterday. While the reading is much lower than the 3.6 percent economists had expected, it still means that inflation has exceeded the Swiss National Bank’s 2 percent target for the eighth consecutive month. Core inflation, which strips out volatile elements, hit 2 percent. Based on the EU-harmonized measure, Switzerland’s inflation was at 3.2 percent, compared with 10 percent in the eurozone, which just touched double digits for the first time ever.
TECHNOLOGY
Translate app shut in China
Google shut down its Translate app for China, ending one of the few remaining services the US giant still operates in the world’s largest Internet arena. The service’s Web page in China now shows a photo of a generic search bar that redirects to Google’s Hong Kong translation site, which is not accessible from the mainland. The service was discontinued “due to low usage,” a company representative said in a statement. The translation service’s discontinuation comes as US-China tensions have ratcheted up, and both countries move to protect sensitive technologies and intellectual property.
ONLINE RETAIL
British firms on Amazon soar
The number of small and medium-sized British businesses selling over Amazon.com Inc’s marketplace soared by more than 25 percent last year, faster than in Germany, France or Italy. About 85,000 smaller UK enterprises now sell on Amazon, responsible for more than 950 million product sales — or 1,750 per minute, the Seattle-based tech giant said in a statement yesterday. More than 700 of those merchants have sales of more than £1 million (US$1.12 million). Some smaller European countries — including the Netherlands, Poland and Sweden — grew their marketplaces faster than in Britain, but from a lower base, Amazon said.
REAL ESTATE
Singapore price pace brisk
Singapore home prices maintained a brisk pace of increase in the third quarter as buyers brushed aside concerns about higher interest rates. Private property values rose 3.4 percent from the previous three months, when they climbed 3.5 percent, according to estimates released by the Singapore Urban Redevelopment Authority yesterday. Prices jumped 13.2 percent from a year earlier. “The robust property price increase shows that some home buyers are discounting the risks of rising interest rates and possible economic slowdown,” said Nicholas Mak (麥俊榮), the head of research and consultancy at APAC Realty Ltd unit ERA.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last