ALAYSIA
Policy rate raised to 3%
Bank Negara Malaysia yesterday unexpectedly raised its benchmark interest rate by a quarter point, as it sought to pre-emptively ward off any risk of future financial imbalance amid lingering price pressures. The central bank hiked the overnight policy rate to 3 percent, a move predicted by just three out of 19 economists in a Bloomberg survey. “The balance of risk to the inflation outlook is tilted to the upside and remains highly subject to any changes to domestic policy including on subsidies and price controls, financial market developments, as well as global commodity prices,” it said in a statement.
TURKEY
Inflation slows, but still high
Inflation slowed below 50 percent for the first time in more than a year, with risks for price stability rising as the country goes to the polls in less than two weeks. Consumer prices grew an annual 43.7 percent last month, down from 50.5 percent in March, official data showed yesterday. Core inflation — which strips out volatile items such as energy and food — was an annual 45.5 percent, down from 47.4 percent in March. While slowing slightly more than expected by economists in a Bloomberg survey, inflation is now forecast to plateau at about 44 to 45 percent for the rest of the year.
AUSTRALIA
Retail sales rise further
Retail sales rose for a third straight month in March, driven primarily by food inflation, as household spending begins to cool under the weight of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s aggressive interest rate increases. Sales advanced 0.4 percent from a month earlier, compared with a forecast 0.2 percent gain, Bureau of Statistics data showed yesterday. Every category outside of food and eating out recorded a decline. The result suggests consumers are beginning to hunker down in the face of rising borrowing costs, in line with the central bank’s aim.
AIRLINES
Lufthansa upbeat on profits
Deutsche Lufthansa AG yesterday said it expected earnings to rise above pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels in the second quarter as air travel continues to recover, putting the carrier closer to achieving its longer-term profit goals. Adjusted earnings before interest and taxes this quarter are forecast to surpass the 754 million euros (US$833 million) achieved in the same period in 2019, Europe’s biggest airline group said in a statement. Lufthansa said summer flights to Spain are particularly popular, with demand for city breaks, a favorite among Europeans before COVID-19 struck, recovering significantly, despite inflation squeezing disposable incomes.
AUTOMAKERS
Stellantis beats forecasts
Stellantis NV’s first-quarter sales climbed more than expected thanks to strong vehicle prices and higher shipments of models like the Jeep Compass. Revenue rose 14 percent to 47.2 billion euros, ahead of analysts’ expectations of 45.8 billion euros, the maker of Ram pickups and Fiat cars said yesterday. The company reaffirmed full-year guidance for a double-digit adjusted operating income margin and positive industrial free cash flow. Stellantis, which has been battling logistics snags, particularly in Europe, said new vehicle inventory was at 1.3 million at the end of March, reflecting a return to more normal levels. Shipments during the quarter rose 7 percent after the availability of semiconductors improved.
Shares of contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) came under pressure yesterday after a report that Apple Inc is looking to shift some orders from the Taiwanese company to Intel Corp. TSMC shares fell NT$55, or 2.4 percent, to close at NT$2,235 on the local main board, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. Despite the losses, TSMC is expected to continue to benefit from sound fundamentals, as it maintains a lead over its peers in high-end process development, analysts said. “The selling was a knee-jerk reaction to an Intel-Apple report over the weekend,” Mega International Investment Services Corp (兆豐國際投顧) analyst Alex Huang
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to remain Apple Inc’s primary chip manufacturing partner despite reports that Apple could shift some orders to Intel Corp, industry experts said yesterday. The comments came after The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Apple and Intel had reached a preliminary agreement following more than a year of negotiations for Intel to manufacture some chips for Apple devices. Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (台灣經濟研究院) economist Arisa Liu (劉佩真) said TSMC’s advanced packaging technologies, including integrated fan-out and chip-on-wafer-on-substrate, remain critical to the performance of Apple’s A-series and M-series chips. She said Intel and Samsung
POWER BUILDUP: Powered by Nvidia’s B200 Blackwell chips, the data center would support MediaTek’s computing power demand and business growth, the company said Smartphone chip designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) yesterday launched a new artificial intelligence (AI) data center with a maximum capacity of 45 megawatts to meet its rising demand for computing power required to develop new advanced chips for AI applications. The company has completed the first-phase computing power buildup at the data center in Miaoli County’s Tongluo Township (銅鑼), providing 15 megawatts of capacity to support its research and development (R&D) capabilities, despite an industrywide shortage of key components, MediaTek said. Supply constraints have plagued a wide range of key components, including memory chips, solid-state drives, power supply units and central
TRANSITION: With the closure, the company would reorganize its Taiwanese unit to a sales and service-focused model, Bridgestone said Bridgestone Corp yesterday announced it would cease manufacturing operations at its tire plant in Hsinchu County’s Hukou Township (湖口), affecting more than 500 workers. Bridgestone Taiwan Co (台灣普利司通) said in a statement that the decision was based on the Tokyo-based tire maker’s adjustments to its global operational strategy and long-term market development considerations. The Taiwanese unit would be reorganized as part of the closure, effective yesterday, and all related production activities would be concluded, the statement said. Under the plan, Bridgestone would continue to deepen its presence in the Taiwanese market, while transitioning to a sales and service-focused business model, it added. The Hsinchu
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