INDONESIA
Pace of rate hikes slows
The central bank yesterday slowed the pace of interest-rate increases to a quarter-point, saying that easing inflationary and currency pressures call for a calibrated monetary tightening. Bank Indonesia lifted the seven-day reverse repurchase rate to 5.5 percent, as seen by 20 of 27 economists in a Bloomberg survey. The decision takes the cumulative rate hikes this year to 200 basis points. “The decision to increase interest rates in a more measured manner is a follow-up step for front-loaded, pre-emptive and forward-looking measures to ensure the continued decline in inflation and inflation expectations so that core inflation is maintained within the range of 2 to 4 percent,” Governor Perry Warjiyo said at a briefing.
UNITED KINGDOM
GDP shrinks 0.3 percent
The kingdom’s economy contracted slightly more than thought in the third quarter of this year, revised official data showed yesterday. GDP shrank 0.3 percent in the July-to-September period compared with an original reading of minus-0.2 percent, the Office for National Statistics said in a statement. The office added that the economy grew weaker than expected in the first half of this year. Darren Morgan, director of economic statistics at the office, said the “revised figures show the economy performed slightly less well over the last year than we previously estimated, with manufacturing and electricity generation notably weaker.”
JAPAN
Bonds to be issued
The country would again resort to bond issuance to help fund another year of record spending, with the Bank of Japan’s surprise policy move this week set to put pressure on borrowing costs. The government would look to issue bonds worth more than ￥35 trillion (US$265 billion) to finance an initial budget of more than ￥114 trillion for the year starting in April, local media reported. The spending plan is expected to be approved by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s Cabinet today.
CANADA
Inflation slows to 6.8 percent
Inflation cooled slightly last month to 6.8 percent, as higher costs of food and shelter more than offset lower gasoline prices, the national statistical agency said on Wednesday. The rate — 0.1 percentage points lower than the previous month — was a tick higher than analysts expected. On a monthly basis, the consumer price index rose 0.1 percent following a 0.7 percent gain in October. According to Statistics Canada, gasoline prices at the pump were 3.6 percent lower, while the costs of groceries continued to rise at a faster pace than all other items — up 11.4 percent last month.
RETAIL
Reliance to buy Metro unit
India’s Reliance Industries Ltd agreed to buy Metro AG’s Indian unit for 28.5 billion rupees (US$344 million) as the nation’s biggest retailer run by billionaire Mukesh Ambani further expands his footprint. Metro is to see a transaction gain of about 150 million euros (US$160 million) at closing, and higher earnings per share are anticipated, the company said on Wednesday. The transaction with Reliance Retail Ventures is expected to close by March next year. Metro entered the Indian market in 2003 and operates 31 wholesale distribution centers across the country serving business customers.
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday said that its research institute has launched its first advanced artificial intelligence (AI) large language model (LLM) using traditional Chinese, with technology assistance from Nvidia Corp. Hon Hai, also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), said the LLM, FoxBrain, is expected to improve its data analysis capabilities for smart manufacturing, and electric vehicle and smart city development. An LLM is a type of AI trained on vast amounts of text data and uses deep learning techniques, particularly neural networks, to process and generate language. They are essential for building and improving AI-powered servers. Nvidia provided assistance
STILL HOPEFUL: Delayed payment of NT$5.35 billion from an Indian server client sent its earnings plunging last year, but the firm expects a gradual pickup ahead Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), the world’s No. 5 PC vendor, yesterday reported an 87 percent slump in net profit for last year, dragged by a massive overdue payment from an Indian cloud service provider. The Indian customer has delayed payment totaling NT$5.35 billion (US$162.7 million), Asustek chief financial officer Nick Wu (吳長榮) told an online earnings conference. Asustek shipped servers to India between April and June last year. The customer told Asustek that it is launching multiple fundraising projects and expected to repay the debt in the short term, Wu said. The Indian customer accounted for less than 10 percent to Asustek’s
‘DECENT RESULTS’: The company said it is confident thanks to an improving world economy and uptakes in new wireless and AI technologies, despite US uncertainty Pegatron Corp (和碩) yesterday said it plans to build a new server manufacturing factory in the US this year to address US President Donald Trump’s new tariff policy. That would be the second server production base for Pegatron in addition to the existing facilities in Taoyuan, the iPhone assembler said. Servers are one of the new businesses Pegatron has explored in recent years to develop a more balanced product lineup. “We aim to provide our services from a location in the vicinity of our customers,” Pegatron president and chief executive officer Gary Cheng (鄭光治) told an online earnings conference yesterday. “We
LEAK SOURCE? There would be concern over the possibility of tech leaks if TSMC were to form a joint venture to operate Intel’s factories, an analyst said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday stayed mum after a report said that the chipmaker has pitched chip designers Nvidia Corp, Advanced Micro Devices Inc and Broadcom Inc about taking a stake in a joint venture to operate Intel Corp’s factories. Industry sources told the Central News Agency (CNA) that the possibility of TSMC proposing to operate Intel’s wafer fabs is low, as the Taiwanese chipmaker has always focused on its core business. There is also concern over possible technology leaks if TSMC were to form a joint venture to operate Intel’s factories, Concord Securities Co (康和證券) analyst Kerry Huang (黃志祺)
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