REAL ESTATE
Singapore raises stamp duty
Singapore is raising property taxes to cool its red-hot housing market, amid mounting concern that an influx of wealth into the city-state is hurting affordability for locals and its competitiveness as a financial hub. The government is increasing stamp duties for second-home buyers and foreigners purchasing private property, it said in a statement. For foreigners buying any home, the tax rate doubled to 60 percent from 30 percent. The city-state’s property sector has remained buoyant even as countries elsewhere face slowdowns due to soaring interest rates and inflation, partly due to an inflow of money, especially from the wealthy Chinese. A shortage of supply and rising construction costs during the COVID-19 pandemic propelled home prices and rents, fueling discontent among residents.
AUTOMAKERS
Toyota posts top production
Toyota Motor Corp cemented its position atop the world’s automaking giants, producing a record 10.7 million vehicles as a group for the 12 months ended March 31, due to increased capacity and production optimization in North America and Asia. Global sales, which include brands such as Daihatsu Motor Co and Hino Motors Ltd, came in at 10.6 million units, up 1.7 percent on strong demand, Toyota said in a statement yesterday. Output of Toyota-branded vehicles and Lexus models was 9.13 million units, in line with what the company had forecast earlier. A better supply of chips following the prolonged global semiconductor dearth helped Toyota move away from COVID-19-induced production snarls.
SEMICONDUCTORS
STMicro revenue increases
STMicroelectronics NV’s net revenue in the first quarter of this year rose 20 percent from a year earlier, as demand from vehicle makers and industry customers insulated it from a broader downturn in the semiconductor industry. The Franco-Italian chipmaker’s net revenue rose to US$4.25 billion in the period, the company said in a statement yesterday. Demand for STMicro products has been driven by customers such as Tesla Inc in its automotive unit, which is the company’s largest business area and has benefited from growing electric vehicle sales. Its industry division is expected to be another key area of growth this year as factories become more connected, STMicro said in January.
PHARMACEUTICALS
AstraZeneca profits buoyant
AstraZeneca yesterday beat expectations for first-quarter profit and revenue, as buoyant sales of cancer drug Imfinzi and strong demand for its roster of drugs in emerging markets helped to offset dwindling COVID-19 product sales. The company’s sales and outlook highlight the rapid decline of its COVID-19 vaccine, its best-selling product in 2021 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has struggled to compete with rival shots developed by Pfizer and Moderna. The London-listed drugmaker, which reports its results in US dollars, reported adjusted profit of US$1.92 per share on sales of about US$10.9 billion. Analysts were expecting about US$1.71 per share on sales of about US$10.6 billion, company-compiled estimates showed. The company’s cancer drug Imfinzi generated US$900 million in the quarter, beating estimates of US$735 million from brokerage Cowen. Sales of its COVID-19 vaccine dropped to US$28 million in the first quarter, compared with US$1.14 billion a year earlier, as the company lost ground to rival mRNA shots.
SEEKING CLARITY: Washington should not adopt measures that create uncertainties for ‘existing semiconductor investments,’ TSMC said referring to its US$165 billion in the US Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) told the US that any future tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors could reduce demand for chips and derail its pledge to increase its investment in Arizona. “New import restrictions could jeopardize current US leadership in the competitive technology industry and create uncertainties for many committed semiconductor capital projects in the US, including TSMC Arizona’s significant investment plan in Phoenix,” the chipmaker wrote in a letter to the US Department of Commerce. TSMC issued the warning in response to a solicitation for comments by the department on a possible tariff on semiconductor imports by US President Donald Trump’s
The government has launched a three-pronged strategy to attract local and international talent, aiming to position Taiwan as a new global hub following Nvidia Corp’s announcement that it has chosen Taipei as the site of its Taiwan headquarters. Nvidia cofounder and CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Monday last week announced during his keynote speech at the Computex trade show in Taipei that the Nvidia Constellation, the company’s planned Taiwan headquarters, would be located in the Beitou-Shilin Technology Park (北投士林科技園區) in Taipei. Huang’s decision to establish a base in Taiwan is “primarily due to Taiwan’s talent pool and its strength in the semiconductor
An earnings report from semiconductor giant and artificial intelligence (AI) bellwether Nvidia Corp takes center stage for Wall Street this week, as stocks hit a speed bump of worries over US federal deficits driving up Treasury yields. US equities pulled back last week after a torrid rally, as investors turned their attention to tax and spending legislation poised to swell the US government’s US$36 trillion in debt. Long-dated US Treasury yields rose amid the fiscal worries, with the 30-year yield topping 5 percent and hitting its highest level since late 2023. Stocks were dealt another blow on Friday when US President Donald
UNCERTAINTY: Investors remain worried that trade negotiations with Washington could go poorly, given Trump’s inconsistency on tariffs in his second term, experts said The consumer confidence index this month fell for a ninth consecutive month to its lowest level in 13 months, as global trade uncertainties and tariff risks cloud Taiwan’s economic outlook, a survey released yesterday by National Central University found. The biggest decline came from the timing for stock investments, which plunged 11.82 points to 26.82, underscoring bleak investor confidence, it said. “Although the TAIEX reclaimed the 21,000-point mark after the US and China agreed to bury the hatchet for 90 days, investors remain worried that the situation would turn sour later,” said Dachrahn Wu (吳大任), director of the university’s Research Center for
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