SINGAPORE
House transactions surge
Home sales last month rebounded to the second highest monthly figure this year, bucking economic headwinds that are roiling property markets worldwide. Purchases of new private apartments surged to 987 units last month, Urban Redevelopment Authority figures showed yesterday. That was more than double a two-year low in August, when only 437 units were sold due to a lack of new home launches. The jump in sales was mainly fueled by the launch of two major suburban projects, of which 80 percent were snapped up last month. Buyers looking to upgrade from public housing and an influx of expats, led by rich Chinese, have flooded the private residential market, analysts said.
INDONESIA
Exports drop 11% monthly
The nation earned US$24.8 billion from exports last month, down 11 percent from August, Statistics Indonesia said. While shipments rose 20 percent from a year earlier, it was the smallest increase in 20 months, and fell short of the 29 percent predicted in a Bloomberg survey of economists. “Export value declined in September as exports of leading commodities such as iron and steel, palm oil and coal decreased, due to either slower demand and lower prices in global markets,” Statistics Indonesia deputy for distribution and services Setianto said yesterday.
SOUTH KOREA
BOK cycle to end: experts
Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expect the Bank of Korea (BOK) to reach the end of its hiking cycle early next year. The BOK would probably raise its seven-day repurchase rate by 25 basis points to 3.25 percent at next month’s meeting, according to the median estimate of the survey. With another hike during the first quarter of next year expected, the rate would hit 3.5 percent and likely stay there through the end of next year, the survey said. Most economists kept their growth forecast at 2.6 percent for this year, while revising down next year’s GDP projection to 1.9 percent from 2.1 percent.
INDONESIA
EV deadline for state firms
Jakarta is setting a three-year deadline for all state-owned companies to use only electric vehicles (EVs) as part of its goal of reaching net zero emissions by 2060. The government would also push state-run bus operators Perum PPD and DAMRI Public Corp to fully electrify their fleets, Minister of State-Owned Enterprises Erick Thohir said, without giving a timeline. They have about 3,500 buses combined, their most recent annual reports showed. Transportation contributes one-quarter of Indonesia’s energy-related emissions, second only to the power sector, a government study found.
CONGLOMERATES
Fosun halts HK trading
Chinese conglomerate Fosun International Ltd (復星國際) yesterday suspended stock trading in Hong Kong ahead of an upcoming announcement in what Bloomberg News reported would be the sale of its stake in a steel company to raise much needed liquidity. Fosun is one of a number of major Chinese companies with debt issues, facing as much as US$8 billion in bond repayments through next year. Bloomberg reported earlier that Fosun had agreed to sell its stake — about 60 percent — in the parent company of Nanjing Iron and Steel Co (南京鋼鐵) for 15 billion yuan (US$2.1 billion).
EXTRATERRITORIAL REACH: China extended its legal jurisdiction to ban some dual-use goods of Chinese origin from being sold to the US, even by third countries Beijing has set out to extend its domestic laws across international borders with a ban on selling some goods to the US that applies to companies both inside and outside China. The new export control rules are China’s first attempt to replicate the extraterritorial reach of US and European sanctions by covering Chinese products or goods with Chinese parts in them. In an announcement this week, China declared it is banning the sale of dual-use items to the US military and also the export to the US of materials such as gallium and germanium. Companies and people overseas would be subject to
DOLLAR CHALLENGE: BRICS countries’ growing share of global GDP threatens the US dollar’s dominance, which some member states seek to displace for world trade US president-elect Donald Trump on Saturday threatened 100 percent tariffs against a bloc of nine nations if they act to undermine the US dollar. His threat was directed at countries in the so-called BRICS alliance, which consists of Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. Turkey, Azerbaijan and Malaysia have applied to become members and several other countries have expressed interest in joining. While the US dollar is by far the most-used currency in global business and has survived past challenges to its preeminence, members of the alliance and other developing nations say they are fed
TECH COMPETITION: The US restricted sales of two dozen types of manufacturing equipment and three software tools, and blacklisted 140 more Chinese entities US President Joe Biden’s administration unveiled new restrictions on China’s access to vital components for chips and artificial intelligence (AI), escalating a campaign to contain Beijing’s technological ambitions. The US Department of Commerce slapped additional curbs on the sale of high-bandwidth memory (HBM) and chipmaking gear, including that produced by US firms at foreign facilities. It also blacklisted 140 more Chinese entities that it accused of acting on Beijing’s behalf, although it did not name them in an initial statement. Full details on the new sanctions and Entity List additions were to be published later yesterday, a US official said. The US “will
COLLABORATION: The operations center shows the close partnership between Taiwan and Japan in the field of semiconductors, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo said Tokyo Electron Ltd, Asia’s biggest semiconductor equipment supplier, yesterday launched a NT$2 billion (US$61.5 million) operations center in Tainan as it aims to expand capacity and meet growing demand. Its new Taiwan Operations Center is expected to help customers release their products faster, boost production efficiency and shorten equipment repair time in a cost-effective way, the company said. The center is about a five-minute drive from the factories of its major customers such as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) advanced 3-nanometer and 2-nanometer fabs. The operations center would have about 1,000 employees when it is fully utilized, the company
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